The New York Yankees were shut out by the Detroit Tigers, and the team will now look to bounce back with a win over the Cleveland Guardians Friday night. The Yankees are going to be back in the Bronx, and they’ll be hoping that being at home can help wake this offense up.
Will New York’s bats get hot in this meeting with Cleveland on Friday? Continue reading our Guardians vs. Yankees MLB picks and predictions for our favorite April 22 plays.
Guardians vs Yankees odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
The Guardians opened as +168 underdogs, and the line has moved in both directions here. Cleveland can be found as low as +155, but the team is also as high as +176 elsewhere.
The total, however, is only moving down right now. After opening 9 in this game, the number is down at 8.5 on a majority of sportsbooks as of writing.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full MLB odds before placing your bets.
Guardians vs Yankees predictions
Picks made on 4/22/2022 at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
If you're signing up for a new sportsbook for the 2022 MLB season, here are two of the best bonuses* available:
A) New users can bet $20 and get $200 in free bets with Caesars! Sign Up Now
B) New users can get two risk-free bets up to $2,000 at PointsBet! Sign Up Now
*Eligible USA locations only
Guardians vs Yankees game info
• Location: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
• Date: Friday, April 22, 2022
• First pitch: 7:05 p.m. ET
• TV: Amazon Prime Video, Bally Sports Great Lakes
Guardians vs Yankees betting preview
Starting pitchers
Eli Morgan RHP (1-0, 4.50 ERA): Morgan looks set to make his first start of the year for the Guardians, but the righty has pitched already this season. He has given Cleveland six innings in relief thus far, and the 25-year-old allowed three earned runs. Now, he’ll try to hold his own against the Yankees, and he’ll do so while trying to give the Guardians at least four innings on the mound.
Jameson Taillon (0-1, 3.72 ERA): Taillon has pitched a total of 9.2 innings over his first two starts of the season, allowing a total of four earned runs. Overall, the Yankees probably like what they have seen from the 30-year-old, as his stuff has looked a bit more impressive to open the year. The team just needs him to start pitching a bit deeper into games.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
Guardians: Yu Chang 3B (Out), Luke Maile C (Out).
Yankees: Domingo German P (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Guardians are 4-1 in their last five games against right-handed starters. Find more MLB betting trends for Guardians vs. Yankees
Guardians vs Yankees picks and predictions
Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.
Moneyline analysis
Last season, Morgan had to make one start against the Yankees, and he really performed well in that outing, pitching six innings of one-run ball and doing well to avoid giving up more runs, as New York did get six hits in that game. Morgan probably won’t allow just one run again in this game, but the fact that he has had success against this lineup makes the Guardians a great value tonight. If the righty can turn in a quality start, Cleveland will have a real chance to steal this game.
The Guardians actually beat the Yankees in Taillon’s only outing against them last year, as the righty gave up four earned runs on five hits in just four innings of work in an April 2021 start. This Cleveland team has also been extremely dangerous for opposing pitchers to start the year, as the Guardians are second in the league in team slugging percentage, on-base plus slugging and batting average. They’ve also scored more runs than anybody in the MLB to open the year. They have 68 runs to this point, while the Yankees have just 39.
Keep an eye on Jose Ramirez in this game, as the third baseman is having the season of his life early on. He’s batting .426 with four homers and 20 RBIs already, and he now gets to face another right-handed pitcher. Ramirez has always been effective from both sides of the plate, but he has been enjoying his at-bats against righties so far this season. With him and the rest of the Guardians swinging hot bats, it’s just hard to turn down Cleveland with these types of odds.
Prediction: Guardians (+176 at FanDuel)
Over/Under analysis
With this total sitting so low, it’s hard not to advise taking the Over. The Guardians have already scored at least six runs in six of their 12 games this season, and if they were to do so again, then you’d have to like your chances. This Cleveland lineup got to Taillon in the only meeting between the two in 2021, and it’s not like Morgan is a dominant pitcher or anything. The righty had some success against the Yankees in his only start against them last year, but the Yankees should be able to put a few runs on the board here.
The Over is actually 6-2 in Cleveland’s last eight games as a road underdog, and it’s also 6-2 in the last eight series openers that the Guardians have played. On top of that, the Over is 42-20-3 in New York’s last 65 games against AL Central opponents. Overall, it’s just hard not to see a lot of runs being scored in a matchup between two teams with legitimate offensive talent — especially with neither team sending its ace to the mound.
Prediction: Over 8.5 (-104 at TwinSpires)
Best bet
Taking the Guardians as such heavy underdogs definitely comes with some risk in this game, but it’s just really hard to turn down the current better baseball team with such favorable odds. Not only is Cleveland 4-1 in its last five games against right-handed starters, but New York is also just 3-8 in its last 11 home games against teams with winning records. The Yankees are also just 1-4 in their last five games as favorites, and they are still waiting on most of their big bats to wake up.
With home runs down across the league, it shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise that the Yankees are struggling offensively. There aren’t many teams in the league that rely as much on power as New York. Perhaps teams will start hitting more homers again as the weather gets warmer, but it’s just hard to trust this Yankees lineup right now. And it’s definitely surprising to see them favored by this much in a game in which Gerrit Cole isn’t starting.
Pick: Guardians (+176 at FanDuel)
Did you know that if you parlayed today’s MLB Guardians vs. Yankees picks, you could win $44.14 on a $10 bet?
Use our MLB parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.
