The stars have aligned in a powerhouse interleague showdown as the New York Yankees (34-24) head west for a three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers (34-23) that begins on Friday, June 2.
With both teams in fine form, this figures to be a highly-watched and entertaining series, with MLB odds pegging the Dodgers as favorites for the opener.
I provide my best met and full MLB picks and predictions for Game 1 of the Yankees vs. Dodgers below.
Yankees vs Dodgers odds
Yankees vs Dodgers predictions
For Game 1’s best, I’m going to take a look at the flaming-hot Freddie Freeman.
Freeman has been on an absolute tear, ending May with a .400 batting average and 24 extra-base hits. His figure for extra-base hits was a new franchise record, as were his 17 doubles — which is fairly impressive, considering the Dodgers franchise has just a little bit of history!
He hit safely in all but two contests during May while starting every game — a testament to consistency.
He’s been especially dominant against right-handed pitching, posting an absurd .962 OPS since 2021 while bashing 44 home runs across 1192 plate appearances.
His matchup on Friday comes against Luis Severino, who has been effective across his first two starts despite not even playing in a minor league rehab game before making his season debut. His splits aren’t all that noticeable, but he is allowing a .670 OPS to left-handed batters in his career compared to .633 for right-handed batters.
The sample size is small, but his 23.3% K-rate so far is way down from his 27.2% career numbers. The same can be said for his 9.5% swinging strike rate — down from 11.8% in his career. Since he isn’t missing bats, he’s relied on an unsustainably low .143 BABIP. Again, the sample is small, but it’s fair to question if Severino is full-go after maxing out at 82 pitches in his last start.
Freeman is riding a 20-game hitting streak entering Friday’s Game 1. Not only has he hit safely, but he’s hit extremely well, as he’s gained multiple hits in 14 of those games — including four of his last five.
Freeman’s total hits prop is set at 1.5 with +170 odds on the Over, while his total bases prop is also set at 1.5 but with +105 odds on the Over. Personally, I’ll be playing both and will be taking the total base prop Over as my best bet. The wind is blowing out to right field and yet another Freeman extra-base hit is quite easy to envision in this spot — as is him having yet another multi-hit game.
My best bet: Freddie Freeman Over 1.5 total bases (+105)
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Yankees vs Dodgers moneyline analysis
The Dodgers opened at -125 but have since taken some steam. The best price currently available is -135, while the best offering on New York’s comeback is +125.
The Yankees have been scorching hot, winning 16 of their last 23 games as they continue to make ground in the quicksand that is the AL East standings. Good luck catching those Tampa Bay Rays, though! First, they’ll have to surpass the Baltimore Orioles, which is its own challenge — the Yankees are currently two games back from Baltimore in second and six back from Tampa Bay in first. They’re 6-4 in their last 10 games.
New York receives a big boost in the health department as slugger Giancarlo Stanton, third baseman Josh Donaldson, and pitcher Tommy Kahnle have all been activated and are expected to be available Friday.
The Yankees have been mediocre against lefties on the year, ranking 17th in both wRC+ (103) and wOBA (.320). Those numbers have been slightly worse when evaluating recent performance, as they check in at 20th in wRC+ (95) and 22nd in wOBA (.299) against left-handers across the last 20 days.
The Dodgers have also been hot, winning 18 of their last 28 games while sitting tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks atop the NL West. They are 7-3 across their last 10 games.
The Dodgers have mashed right-handed pitching this season, ranking second in both wRC+ (116) and wOBA (.340). They’ve been just slightly better recently, too, with a 119 wRC+ and .346 wOBA across the last 10 days.
Yankees vs Dodgers Over/Under analysis
The total is set at a flat 8 across the books.
The Dodgers have been dead-set on the Over this season with a 33-23-1 O/U record, while the Yankees have played slightly to the Under (27-30-1 O/U).
The Yankees’ numbers against lefties, as outlined above, are not particularly impressive. They’ve therefore tended to get into low-scoring games when facing a southpaw starter on the road, going 2-9-1 O/U across their last 12 such games.
The Pinstripes also seem to play to the Under when facing the top teams of the NL, going 5-17-1 O/U in their last 23 interleague road games against a team with a winning record.
On the other hand, the Dodgers are 4-0 O/U in their last four interleague games and are 6-1 O/U in their last seven games against a team with a winning record.
Their proficiency against right-handed pitching has resulted in a 5-1-1 O/U record in their last seven games when facing a right-handed starter.
Current weather forecasts call for a temperature of 65.9 degrees at the time of first pitch with winds of 9.2 mph blowing out to right field. It’s supposed to cool down to the low 60s as the sun drops, while the winds are expected to be sustained near the same speed and direction throughout the contest.
Yankees vs Dodgers game info
| Location: | Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA |
| Date: | Friday, June 2, 2023 |
| First pitch: | 10:10 p.m. ET |
| TV: | SN1 |
Starting pitchers
Luis Severino (0-0, 1.59 ERA): Severino will be making his third start of the season. He’s been effective thus far, allowing just a single earned run in each of his first two starts, during which he banked 11 ? innings. His 2.32 xERA is excellent while his 3.73 FIP is much higher than his actual ERA. His velocity is actually up, as his average fastball (97.5 mph) is up from 96.3 a year ago and is the highest number he’s posted since 2018.
Clayton Kershaw (6-4, 3.32 ERA): Kershaw has seen his numbers slide in recent weeks following a red-hot start to the season. He’s surrendered exactly four earned runs in each of his last two starts and has allowed a total of 15 earned runs across his last five starts. His 3.38 xERA and 3.42 FIP are both very similar to his actual ERA.
Latest injuries
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Freddie Freeman has recorded Over 1.5 total bases in six straight games. Find more MLB betting trends for Yankees vs. Dodgers
