Major League Baseball Roundup

After four days of baseball in the books, a handful of established stars have already made their mark on the young season ⭐️

• Shohei Ohtani became the first player in major league history to be his team's starting pitcher on Opening Day as well as the leadoff hitter

• Byron Buxton homered in three straight at bats after an injury shortened breakout campaign in 2021

• Carlos Rodon followed up his standout season with the White Sox in his first start as a Giant, striking out a dozen in just five innings of work

• Justin Verlander and Noah Syndergaard battled each other for five innings of solid ball, despite each missing most of 2020 and 2021

A couple of fresh faces have shown out as well, exploding out of the gates in their first tastes of big league action 👇

• Top prospect and rookie Bobby Witt Jr. made a game-saving snag at third in addition to a clutch, go-ahead knock

• Japanese sensation Seiya Suzuki has a 1.288 OPS after bashing his first homer as a member of the Cubs on Sunday

All of these guys have a long ways to go to cement solid seasons, but each has certainly gotten off on the right foot 🔥

AL East Check-In

With a series apiece under each team's collective belt, the AL East looks a lot like it did at the end of last regular season

• Already, the Rays are atop the division, having swept the rebuilding Orioles who find themselves at the bottom of the table

• Winning their three-game set by a combined 11 runs, the Rays continue to make magic out of a mix of underrated veterans and highly touted youngsters, hoping to make another deep postseason run

Coming into the season, Tampa Bay was tied for the 7th-best odds to win the World Series, and are short a couple of their biggest producers from the past years. Ace Tyler Glasnow is on the shelf recovering from Tommy John surgery, and they just dealt All-Star outfielder Austin Meadows for a top infield prospect and a draft pick

Still, they've gotten off to a strong start 💪

Yankees vs. Blue Jays Preview

In the Bronx tonight, the two teams right below the Rays in the division's standings will set off the first of a four-game set. After taking two of three against the Red Sox, the Yankees host one of the only teams in the majors who can match their offensive firepower

• Between Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Bo Bichette, a handful of the game's most potent bats will take the field in this series. Just take a look at last year's HR leaders

• Before last night, Stanton had hit six HRs in a row vs. the Red Sox dating back to last season 😳

However, if the series comes down to pitching, the Yankees have a considerable edge in terms of their rotation and bullpen. Gerrit Cole is easily the best pitcher projected to toe the rubber, and the Blue Jays had one of the worst bullpens in baseball last year, a weak point which hamstrung their otherwise solid squad

In what will be a great series, here's how the two teams project to line up against each other in their series, as well as Monday's lines 👇

• Monday: Jameson Taillon vs. Alek Manoah

• Tuesday: Nestor Cortes Jr. vs. Yusei Kikuchi

• Wednesday: Gerrit Cole vs. Jose Berrios

• Thursday: Luis Severino vs. Kevin Gausman

Yankees vs. Blue Jays Betting Preview (subject to change)

• Spread: Blue Jays -1.5 (+155), Yankees +1.5 (-188)

• Moneyline: Blue Jays (-104), Yankees (-112)

• O/U: 9 runs

For My Parlay Gurus

Despite being slight favorites, I'm expecting the Yankees to bounce back from their nail-biting loss on Sunday Night Baseball to the Red Sox with a Game 1 win against the Blue Jays. To juice those odds, I've got Luis Patiño taking care of business on the rubber for the Rays against the rebuilding A's

• Yankees moneyline vs. the Blue Jays: -112

• Rays -1.5 vs. the A's: +102

$100 on this bet would win you $282 -- if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win up to $100*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

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