COVID-19 Delayed MLB Season Opener is Here
The New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals. If you are like most red-blooded Americans, the last four months have been a nightmare in more ways than one. It is Time for the MLB season opener. For many of us, one of the biggest things missing was a March with no Madness, an April minus Opening Day, and an NBA and NHL Season with no playoffs or Champion.
As the weather got hotter and the days longer, sports and normalcy seemed farther away. That’s why Thursday night, when the MLB Season officially gets underway, millions of Americans will be tuning in, for America’s pastime, red, white, and blue and American pie. It’s not just a game, but a sure sign that despite many hardships that our country is currently enduring, people will persevere, sports will persevere, and our country will persevere.
With all that said, let’s get a look at the night’s actual matchup, pitting the defending World Champion Washington Nationals vs. none other than America’s favorite team to hate, the Bronx Bombers of New York. This game pits two of the best arms in Major League Baseball, as we get an absolute gem of a matchup with Max Scherzer and Gerrit Cole taking the mound for their respective teams.
The Nationals are coming off the momentum of a World Series Championship, and a dream season to end 2019, with similar high hopes in 2020, albeit in a 60 game shortened season. There will be no fanfare, standing ovations, and moments for the players to bask in as fans will be not be permitted into the stadium.
So who has the advantage in a matchup where on the pitching mound, it seems like a wash? Let’s dive in a little deeper to see if there is an edge on either side.
Yankees vs Nationals Tale of the Tape
PITCHING EDGE- EVEN
As mentioned above, both starters in this matchup are stellar. You have a three-time All-Star in Gerrit Cole, who led the league in strikeouts just a year ago, versus 3 times Cy young award-winning Max Scherzer. So in the pitching edge category, we give no edge to either team.
HITTING EDGE- YANKEES Offensively the Nationals have lost Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon in just the last two seasons alone, so when looking at the Yankees and their #1 ranked hitting offense vs. a young, unproven offensive team in Washington, it seems like offensively the nod would have to go to New York.
So in predicting this matchup, you would have to look at more intangibles to predict a winner, on paper, it might seem like the Yankees are a clear choice. But will the Moneyline odds be worth just a straight bet on New York, or should you play the -1.5 run line? You also need to dig deeper to see if there is any value in betting the total, and we have some statistical trends to assist you with that decision.
Yankees vs Nationals Key Trends
The OVER is 6-2 in the Yankees last eight games as a Favorite.
The OVER is 9-1-1 in the Nationals last 11 inter-league games.
THE UNDER is 4-0 in the last four matchups between both teams.
New York Yankees are 57-24 in their last 81 games as a Favorite.
Washington Nationals are 19-39 in their last 58 games as a Home Underdog. Now we’ve unpacked the matchup between both teams and given out our thoughts on who has the edge and where. We’ve also gone over some different statistical trends for the total, and both sides as Road Favorites and Home Underdogs.
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