Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees Prediction: Will Nasty Nestor Cortes Strike Again?

Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees Prediction: Will Nasty Nestor Cortes Strike Again?

We need something to believe in today people. It's Thursday night. Thursday nights are pretty much a dress rehearsal for the weekend. Everyone knows that. With that being said, we need a solid win on our first time through the lines. We just do. The secret to finding one of these is to look at the earliest possible games you can bet. I thought about going into the Chicago Cubs vs Cincinnati Reds game but the books are trying to trick us there. We're too smart for that. But in trying to trick us with that game, they made a huge mistake in the next game. You hate to see it but it happens. They're people too. Lucky for us I caught it and now we can all bet it. Our night begins at 6:40 pm ET now because of that catch by me.

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Rays vs. Yankees Start Time, Where to Watch, and Odds

• Date: May 26, 2022
• Game Time: 6:40 pm ET
• Where to Watch: MLB.TV

Click Here for Rays vs Yankees Odds

Rays vs. Yankees Line Movement

Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees Prediction

Nestor Cortes 6+ Strikeouts (+106) (Bet $100 to Win $106)

*Odds Available at FanDuel at Time of Publishing*

I'm at FanDuel here because we don't have a line on this one anywhere else. That's insane. We're talking about a New York Yankees all-time great here and we can't get a number. That's pure insanity. It should never happen but I'm glad it did because it made me look at the ladders being offered at FanDuel. They have 7+ strikeouts for +230 if you want to spice up your night a little.

I've said this before but Nestor Cortes doesn't look like an MLB pitcher. He looks like your kid's best friend's dad. The one that always takes you up on the beer you offer him when he comes to pick his kid up. The kind of guy that is an involved dad now, maybe even on the soccer board, but you know he was wild back in the day. But looks can be deceiving because unlike your kid's friend's dad, this guy can throw 90 mph.

Cortes is firmly on my radar going forward because of what he did to the Chicago White Sox in his last two starts. The man struck out seven of them in both games. On the season, only two teams in the entire MLB have struck out less than the White Sox. That's crazy. If he could do that to them, what will he do against a team that actually strikes out all the time like it's their job?

We should find the answer to that question tonight when the Yankees visit the Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa isn't the worst team in MLB at striking out but they strike out enough. We're talking 13th in total strikeouts this season. We could see at least seven guys in the lineup tonight who are 25+% strikeout guys on the season. They've been better lately, but they played the Orioles and Marlins. We saw Pablo Lopez whiff eight of them so I think we're good here. Cortes should sit these guys down at least six times. Maybe even seven.