In a potential World Series preview, the Los Angeles Dodgers host the New York Yankees on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
The pregame narrative: The Dodgers and Yankees are the favourites to come out of the NL and AL, respectively, making this a legitimate heavyweight bout. AL Cy Young hopeful Max Fried puts his pristine 7-0 record on the line against the defending-champion Dodgers.
Check out my Yankees vs. Dodgers predictions, including props on Fried, Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger in a +270 SGP.
Yankees vs. Dodgers predictions
SGP picks: Fried over 4.5 Ks | Betts under 1.5 total bases | Bellinger over 0.5 hits (+270)
Fried over 4.5 Ks (-152): Could Fried’s first season with the Yankees have started any better? I don’t think so.
The longtime Atlanta Brave is 7-0 with a 1.29 ERA and a 2.58 FIP through 11 starts. If not for a guy named Tarik Skubal, he’d be the AL Cy Young frontrunner.
Fried has never been a dominant strikeout guy, but his numbers in that regard are still solid. His 24.2 K% ranks in the 64th percentile, per Baseball Savant. And his 8.6 K/9 means he’s close to one strikeout per inning.
Given his run-suppression success, Fried is routinely working deep enough to cash this bet.
He’s 8-3 vs. this line while averaging 6.1 Ks per outing.
Last year, Fried posted 14 Ks over two starts against L.A. and cleared this total both times.
MLB SGP legs
Betts under 1.5 total bases (-186): Betts is experiencing a power outage right now, and fading him makes a lot of sense in tonight’s matchup.
- Against Fried, Betts is 2-for-30 with zero extra-base hits and nine Ks.
- Betts has gone under 1.5 bases in 11 of his past 13 games.
Since May 15, Betts has a .220/.328/.340 slash line. In that span, he has more hitless games (four) than total extra-base hits (two).
Though he typically doesn’t strike out much, Betts hasn’t been consistently destroying the ball, either.
Betts has a 4.3% barrel rate, which ranks in the 16th percentile among all hitters.
Bellinger over 0.5 hits (-215): Bellinger entered play on May 4 below the Mendoza Line, but he’s really turned up the heat since then.
In 20 games since then, the ex-Dodger has batted .338 with a 1.019 OPS. His expected batting average in that time is .302, so it’s not like he’s wildly out-performing his batted-ball quality.
Also, Bellinger has recorded a hit in 16 of his past 20 games.
Bellinger’s lefty/righty career splits are marginally different, but he should still have an advantage against Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin.
Left-hitting players have a .294 BA vs. Gonsolin through five games this season.
Yankees vs. Dodgers predictions made at 11:30 a.m. ET on 05/30/2025.
Jordan enjoys writing data-driven game previews and analysis articles — especially for MLB markets or NFL/NBA props. And as a proud Ohio University grad, he’ll always have a soft spot for college sports (especially if the Bobcats are involved). Previous stops include mlb.com, Sportsnet and The Athletic.