The New York Yankees and Houston Astros meet Thursday in MLB action at the Minute Maid Park. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Yankees vs Astros prediction.
New York Yankees Betting Preview
The Yankees missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and bring back Aaron Boone for a seventh season. The Yankees hope the trades for Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo beef up a lineup that already has Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton. On paper, the Yankees have one of the best lineups in MLB. The Yankees also snagged pitcher Marcus Stroman in free agency, which is even more important now that Gerrit Cole is sidelined with an elbow issue. It’s World Series or bust for the Yankees, a franchise that hasn’t lifted the trophy since 2009. Nestor Cortes gets the ball, and he was 5-2 with a 4.97 ERA and 67 strikeouts last season. Cortes is 1-1 with a 6.86 ERA and 21 strikeouts in his career against the Astros. The Yankees will face the Diamondbacks in the series after this one.
Houston Astros Betting Preview
The Astros have made the playoffs every year since 2017 and have made the World Series four times during that span. Joe Espada is now manager for the first time in his coaching career. The Astros are pretty much the same team from last year, a group that’s led by Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman and Framber Valdez. The Astros are rolling with the guys who have gotten them to the promised land time and time again, and they have top-five odds to win the World Series at the moment. The Astros are the definition of solid and consistency, and this season should be no different. Framber Valdez gets the ball, and he was 12-11 with a 3.45 ERA and 200 strikeouts last season. Valdez is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA and 15 strikeouts in his career against the Yankees. The Astros will take on the Blue Jays following this series.
Houston Astros Team Facts
- The underdogs have won each of the Astros’ last 10 games.
- The road team has covered the run line in each of the Astros’ last 10 games.
- The Astros have lost the first inning in each of their last four Thursday games as favorites.
- The Astros have trailed after 3 innings in nine of their last 11 games as favorites against American League opponents.
- The Astros have led after 7 innings in each of their last 11 home openers.
New York Yankees Team Facts
- The Yankees have won each of their last four games as underdogs against the Astros.
- The Yankees have covered the run line in each of their last seven games as road underdogs against AL West opponents.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Yankees’ last four games as underdogs against American League opponents.
- The Yankees have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last five day games.
- The Yankees have led after 7 innings in each of their last four games as underdogs against AL West opponents.
Yankees vs Astros prediction
Nestor Cortes is allowing a .268 batting average and 6 homers in 56 at bats against current Astros. Framber Valdez is allowing a .164 batting average and has 19 strikeouts in 73 at bats against current Yankees. The Yankees aren’t in a great spot to start the season given their injury situation (LeMahieu) and it should be Cole taking the mound in this game. The Astros are in better shape at the moment roster wise and Valdez has owned the Yanks. I’ll lay the cheap price with the Astros at home as they draw first blood.