The New York Yankees open as the 2019 World Series favorites. Game 1 of the quest to reach that lofty goal is Thursday for Opening Day, when the Yankees host the Baltimore Orioles at 1:05 p.m. ET. Each team starts a pitcher that's being forced into Opening Day duties due to injury, with Masahiro Tanaka going on the hill for the Yankees (Luis Severino hurt) and Andrew Cashner for the Orioles (Alex Cobb out). The Yankees are -400 on the money line (risk $400 to win $100), while the Over-Under for total runs is nine in the latest Yankees vs. Orioles odds. Before laying any Yankees vs. Orioles picks of your own, you'll want to see the 2019 MLB Opening Day predictions from SportsLine MLB expert Adam Thompson.
Thompson raked in the winnings as SportsLine's top MLB handicapper last year, hitting on 61 percent of his money line picks for a massive profit of $4,062 to $100 players. He's also on a scorching 23-4 run on his MLB picks dating back to last year, a streak that included hitting every World Series game and nailing the Mariners' win over the Athletics in the 2019 opener in Japan.
Thompson, who covered major sports for 20 years as a writer and columnist before joining SportsLine as a senior writer and handicapper, cites deeply-researched stats and trends you haven't considered to build his MLB success. Anybody who has followed his MLB picks is way, way up.
Now, Thompson has studied Yankees vs. Orioles on MLB Opening Day 2019 and locked in a confident money line play at SportsLine. Last season, he was an astonishing 11-0 when picking games involving the Orioles, so you'll want to hear what he has to say.
Thompson knows the Yankees are strongly favored Thursday for good reason. New York went 100-62 last season, and this season the Bronx Bombers are in front of the Astros, Red Sox and Dodgers atop the 2019 World Series odds.
No team hit more home runs in any season in MLB history than the Yankees did last year, crushing 267 of them. Six players had at least 24, led by Giancarlo Stanton (38). Fellow powerhouse Aaron Judge hit 27 in just 112 games.
Tanaka has struggled on Opening Day, but last year he went 2-0 against the Orioles, striking out 19 with three walks in 16 innings. He'll be backed by a bullpen that was bolstered with the mid-2018 acquisition of former Orioles All-Star closer Zach Britton, adding him to a crew that includes Aroldis Chapman and Adam Ottavino.
But just because the Yankees are heavily favored at home doesn't mean they're the best value on the money line for MLB Opening Day 2019.
The Orioles were far and away the worst team in baseball last season, but a new year brings renewed optimism. It helps that they'll face a pitcher in Tanaka who's 0-2 in four Opening Day starts with a 9.49 ERA.
Regardless of how poor Baltimore was, it gets up for games at Yankee Stadium. The Orioles were a surprising 5-4 in the Bronx last year. Cashner shut down the pinstripes for one run over six innings in his second start of the season last year. Stanton and Judge are a combined 4-for-26 (.154) all-time against him.
Thompson has studied this matchup from every angle and unearthed a hidden x-factor you're not even thinking about that determines which side of the money line has all the value. He's only sharing what it is, and who to back, at SportsLine.
So who wins Yankees vs. Orioles? And what hidden x-factor makes one side a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the Yankees vs. Orioles money line has all the value, all from the MLB expert who's on an 11-0 run on Baltimore picks.
