A couple of weeks into the 2024 Major League Baseball season, and the New York Yankees are not only surviving without ace Gerrit Cole, they’re thriving.
Going into play this weekend, the Bronx Bombers are an MLB-best 10-3. The season started with a surprising four-game sweep at Houston. It was followed by series wins over Arizona, Toronto, and Miami. All four were playoff teams from a year ago. A road trip at 9-3 Cleveland is coming up.
The Yankees rank in the middle of the road in batting average and runs scored. However, the pitching is carrying them so far. New York is third in the Major Leagues with a 2.67 ERA. Carlos Rodon has bounced back from an injury-plagued 2023 nicely so far. He has a 1.72 ERA in three starts. Newcomer Marcus Stroman sits at 2.12 despite taking a loss Wednesday against the Marlins.
Offensively, Juan Soto’s first year in pinstripes has started well. He’s batting .360 with two home runs and a team-high 12 RBI. Giancarlo Stanton leads the team with four home runs and is hitting .256, which is another big improvement over his numbers from a season ago.
The big question is: Have the Yankees turned things around from a rough 2023? Or is this just a hot start? Starts to the year can be deceiving — just as the crosstown New York Mets, who started 0-5 but have gone 5-2 since, including winning two of three at Atlanta this week.
The Yankees started 2024 as favorites in the American League East. Now that we’re a couple weeks into the season, let’s take a look at the Yankees prop bets for both team and player wagers for 2024.
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Yankees Prop Bets for a Player: A Bronx Bomber for MVP
If you’d like to bet a Yankee for the American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, look no further than the top-two favorites on DraftKings.
Juan Soto (+400) and Aaron Judge (+600) are the favorites for the award. Judge’s season has not gotten off to a good start. He carries a .178 batting average two weeks into the season. Soto, on the other hand, is delivering as promised. Especially since a slow start would be difficult to endure in New York. The competition will be the usual candidates: Julio Rodriguez, Mike Trout, Corey Seager, Yordan Alvarez, and Baltimore’s dynamic duo of Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman.
One new player on the board to look out for is Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who sits at +950. After slugging two home runs on Thursday, Witt Jr. is batting .360 with four homers and 10 RBI for a Royals team that’s gotten off to a hot start. They go into this weekend on a seven-game winning streak.
But Judge and Soto surely have staying power. Plus, with Soto going into a contract year, expect him to play his best ball all year. After all, look at the year Judge put up in his contract year — 62 home runs and nearly winning the triple crown in 2022.
Even at short odds, it’s tough to pass up a bet on Soto.
Yankees Prop Bets: Wager on the AL East
With the Yankees off to a hot start, and given the fact that they’re one of MLB’s most popular teams, odds right now aren’t great on several Yankees prop bets. For example, their odds of winning at least 90 games is a whopping -300 at BetMGM.
But one bet we do like at BetMGM that provides decent value focuses in on the Yankees’ division: the American League East.
You can wager that the World Series-winning team will come from the AL East and get odds of +310 for it. The National League West is at +280, and the NL East is at +340. These aren’t bad odds because you’re also getting Baltimore with this wager. Plus, any potential surprises from Toronto, Boston, or Tampa Bay.
The American League West is always competitive. In fact, the last two World Series champions have come from the AL West. Texas is off to a 7-6 start, whereas Houston is a surprising 4-10. They’ll likely play their way back into contention, but remember that both teams needed nearly all 162 games last year to reach the postseason. Cleveland, Kansas City, and Detroit have all had decent starts in the AL Central but do not have the talent that the top teams in the East and West have.
In the National League, a team from the West (Arizona) won the pennant last year but fell short in the World Series. Obviously, the Los Angeles Dodgers are a threat, as are the Atlanta Braves in the East. Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and the Chicago Cubs are off to nice starts in the NL Central, but like the AL Central counterparts, only the Cubs probably have the best long-term prospects.
Add it all up, and getting 3-to-1 odds on any AL East team winning the World Series is good value.
