Ah, opening day baseball—when the air is crisp, the popcorn is buttery, and my romantic heart swells like a seventh-inning stretch. Nothing says "I love you" like showing up with matching team jerseys, a foam finger, and a big ol’ hot dog to share. Forget candlelit dinners; it’s all about cozying up in the stands, pretending to understand the infield fly rule, and high-fiving when your team hits a homerun. Nothing screams true love like making out between pitches and debating whether the umpire’s call was fair. Move over, Valentine's Day—this is the season of real romance.
Now imagine sitting next to a babe at a baseball game, and splitting a parlay with her? I got you covered.
Nathan Eovaldi u5.5 Strikeouts Thrown (+112)
Eovaldi topped out at four innings in each of his final two spring-training starts, and he only threw 27 pitches across the four frames in his final tuneup against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday. It gives me pause about just how deep he’ll pitch into Thursday’s opener, and the Boston lineup packs punch. The veteran righty maxed out at 75 pitches across four innings against the Arizona Diamondback the start prior Sunday, March 9, but he was also roughed around for five hits, two walks and four earned runs. He also finished the spring with nine strikeouts across 13 innings for an underwhelming 6.23 K/9 and 16.4 K%.
Cleveland (+110)
Cole Ragans is coming off a great first season with the Royals where he finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting anf established himself as the ace of KC's pitching staff. However, the Guardians were a lineup that gave him problems. The LHP surrendered seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and five walks over 8 2/3 innings in two starts against Cleveland last season. Additionally, the Guardians handled LHP well all season long, ranking seventh in OPS and eighth in wRC+. I like the value with Cleveland as a live underdog in Thursday's opener.
NY Mets (+110)
The addition of Juan Soto adds length to what was already a solid lineup that averaged 4.74 runs per game last year. New York is also expecting a breakout year from Mark Vientos, and the Mets can stack the lineup with righties — other than Soto — to face off against Valdez, a southpaw. I’m far less impressed by what the Astros have done with their lineup this season. Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker are gone, and while Isaac Paredes should limit how much Houston loses offensively, Houston hasn’t upgraded in the same way as New York. The best lineup for the Astros is extremely heavy on right-handed bats, with Yordan Alvarez being the only notable exception. Clay Holmes has shut down righties throughout his career, holding them to a .589 OPS and a .209 batting average.
Juan Soto 2+ TB (+150)
Despite opening the season in a lefty-lefty matchup, Mets outfielder Juan Soto has traditionally held his own against southpaws, hitting .278 with a .966 OPS against them last season. Framber Valdez is a tough task but +150 for Soto to record two total bases offers enough value to offset that risk.
Paul Skenes to record a win (+150)
If you think he's losing after Livvy Dunn covered SI Swim again, youre shot. Paul Skenes shredded in his rookie year, going 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 133 innings. Miami got a great look at him toward the end of the season, and I don’t see how it won’t be much of the same in 2025. In that start, Skenes went six strong innings, scattering six hits, surrendering one earned run, and fanning nine with just one walk in a 3-2 Pirates win.
Shohei Ohtani o1.5 TB (+125)
Shohei Ohtani has picked up at least 2+ bases in each of his first two games and will now contend with Detroit ace Tarik Skubal. A tough task to be sure, but Ohtani hit a solid .288 against lefties with 12 home runs, 39 RBI, and 26 extra-base hits in 226 at-bats across last season's MVP campaign.
Tarik Skubal u17.5 outs recorded (+100)
We all know how good Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal is. He was incredible the last time we saw him, but it is Opening Day on the road vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is not an easy assignment for the lefty. THE BAT projects 15.9 total outs from Skubal on 87 total pitches. This Dodgers lineup is no joke, and Mookie Betts is expected back after dealing with an illness in Japan. Skubal went just 83 pitches in his first game last year and didn't hit 100 pitches until July 12, which was start No.19. He is the most important piece of this team, and if the Tigers are trailing, there will be no need to push the starter. I don't think the matchup is priced in enough here and a sub-90 pitch count is very possible, even if he's pitching well.
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