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• New York Yankees vs. Cincinnati Reds
• Friday, May 19 at 6:40pm ET
• Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio
Later this week, the New York Yankees are going to look to keep their strong play going, as they’ll leave Toronto to start a new series with the Cincinnati Reds. After a rough start to the campaign, the Yankees have started to take shape a bit. Things can only get better for them going up against a struggling Cincy side. And for a showdown on Friday night, the Yankees are favored to beat the Reds in an intriguing Friday matchup.
The good news for the Yankees right now is that they’re starting to get healthy. After missing time with a hip injury, reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge is back with the team after a short stint on the Injured List. How important is Judge for this team? In a 7-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night, Judge belted two home runs. That’s the kind of impact he can have for the Bronx Bombers on any given night.
| Yankees vs. Reds odds |  |  |  |  |
| Yankees to win | -115 | -115 | -115 | -115 |
| Reds to win | +125 | +125 | +125 | +125 |
| Over to hit | -110 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| under to hit | -110 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
Not only is Judge back, but fellow slugger Giancarlo Stanton is getting healthy as well. We can’t tell you how imperative it is for manager Aaron Boone to have these two in the lineup on a consistent basis. Both star players have dealt with a flurry of injuries in recent years and the fact that they’ve both already spent time on the IL in 2023 is concerning. However, having them back for the Cincy series will be key.
According to the best-rated sportsbooks, which includes the reliable Bovada review, the Yankees hold -115 MLB betting odds to record a victory on Friday, while the Reds have been placed at +125. Cincinnati will be the home team for this showdown, but they’ve been quite poor to start the season. The Yankees will have no excuses in this meeting. With that said, we’re going with the Yankees as our pick.
The over should hit between the Yankees and Reds
With so much power at the dish for these teams, the over should hit between the Yankees and Reds on Friday. As of this writing, Boone is yet to announce who will get the start for him for this showdown. As for the Reds, though, they will be giving right-handed pitcher Luke Weaver the start. Weaver is in the middle of a terrible season for the NL Central side, as he’s been a major disappointment for the fans to watch.
Entering Friday’s game, Weaver has a 1-2 record and an ERA of 6.66. That’s brutal. The fact that he’s now going to face guys like Judge and other big-time talents is bad news for him as a whole. Since returning from the IL, Judge has been a monster at the plate. His performance in the series vs. Toronto was epic to see. Now, he’ll be ready to try and deliver more of the same against the Reds in Ohio. He’s playing with a ton of confidence right now too.
“This is all a tool that I use,” Judge said in a recent interview with ESPN talking about his goals for the future. “Look around, everyone in the league has a bat. Everyone goes to the cage, does drills. Everyone. But somebody that doesn’t use this, doesn’t use these techniques or doesn’t have somebody they can talk to, I think I’ve got an edge on them.”
This has the chance to be a high-scoring game. The Yankees know that if they want to make a run later this year at potentially stealing the AL East title from the Rays, they’re going to have to take care of business in their series against teams who haven’t been playing well. On Friday, the over/under has been set at 6.5 runs, with -110 MLB betting odds for both. We’re going with the over here.
Aaron Judge remains in the hunt to record the most home runs
Now that he’s back from his hip injury, Aaron Judge remains in the hunt to record the most home runs. According to the oddsmakers, Judge is right behind Pete Alonso in terms of MLB betting odds to finish the year with the most dingers. Alonso is at +300, but Judge is right behind him at +380. No one has forgotten about how brilliant Judge was last year with the bat in his hands, as he finished with an AL record 62 home runs. How many can he finish with in 2023?
OH. MY. GOD. Aaron Judge with a 462 foot CANNON, 114.9 MPH off the bat!!!
Holy hell that was a bomb #NYY pic.twitter.com/EtE8FowFKi
— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) May 16, 2023
That’s something that countless fans have their eyes on. As great as Judge has been, though, Alonso has also been spectacular for the Mets this season. Known as the ‘Polar Bear,’ Alonso is the favorite to finish with the most blasts in the National League. However, it’ll be a fun race to the finish between him and Judge. From our chair, this one really could go either way. Judge was the leader last year and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him come out on top once again. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
