Five Red Sox Bets You Should Consider Before MLB Opening Day
Devers' HR number is all over the place
The Boston Red Sox begin their 2023 campaign Thursday at Fenway Park.
That means you’ve got about two days to place your season-long bets before the Sox battle the Baltimore Orioles at 2:10 p.m. ET. And while you’re able to wager on things like playoffs, pennants and championships throughout a given season, most individual player markets close on Opening Day.
When it comes to power numbers, newly extended slugger Rafael Devers is a rather polarizing figure amongst the American sportsbooks. His season home run total is lined as low as 28.5 at FanDuel and as high as 31.5 at DraftKings.
Always be shopping for the best number.
Here are my five favorite Red Sox bets heading into this season:
Masataka Yoshida to win AL ROY (+700 at Caesars)
These odds are anywhere from +500 to +700, so make sure you’re getting the best odds. We discussed betting Yoshida at +1000 two months ago and after an impressive spring training — not to mention a monumental World Baseball Classic homer against Venezuela — the hype has increased. If he hits around .300 with 20 homers and scores close to 100 runs, he’ll get plenty of love.
Red Sox win more games than Cubs (-115 at DraftKings)
DraftKings currently has Boston’s win total at 78.5 and Chicago’s at 77.5. And while I do like the way the Cubbies added vets like Dansby Swanson, Cody Bellinger and Eric Hosmer to the locker room, the rotation is still concerning. If Chris Sale, Nick Pivetta and Corey Kluber can stay healthy, the ceiling is much higher for the Carmines.
Rafael Devers Over 28.5 homers (-113 at FanDuel)
Full disclosure, I bet “Over” 37.5 homers last season, and boy, did it look like a winner in July. Devers arrived at the All-Star break with 22 long balls but only finished with 27. Woof. The face of the franchise suffered a hamstring injury in late July and his power numbers never recovered. But I’ll buy the dip and bet on Devers bouncing back “Over” an almost disrespectful number (28.5).
Kenley Jansen leads league in saves (+2500 at Caesars)
Understand that this is a long shot. It’s one of those bets where you bet a little to win a lot. Jansen finished a league-best 54 games with the Atlanta Braves last season and notched an impressive 41 saves. Only Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase (42) racked up more. I envision the Sox in a ton of close ball games this year and Jansen could hear his number quite a bit. Just stay healthy.
Red Sox make playoffs (+315 at BetMGM)
Why not? Live a little.
