Ricky Dimon
A new week in Major League Baseball gets underway with a 10-game schedule on Monday. It includes Padres vs Yankees, Giants vs Cubs and Mets vs Diamondbacks. The YRFI/NRFI market is extremely popular in baseball betting. After all, you don’t have to sit around for 3 hours to see if your wager hits; the satisfaction (or in some cases disappointment) is immediate. It all comes down to the first inning.
I’m on an absolute heater in the early stages of the season, with a 22-11-1 record on best bets while going 3-for-5 on Same Game Parlays at +481, +632 and +439 odds and 4-0 on YRFI/NRFI plays. Here are my favorite YRFI/NRFI bets for Monday, and also be sure to check out all of our MLB picks
New York Mets vs Arizona Diamondbacks: YRFI (-125)
The Diamondbacks are expected to start Ryne Nelson on Monday night as the opener of a bullpen game. Nelson is saddled with a 5.82 ERA and the Mets absolutely own him. Brandon Nimmo is 4-for-7 lifetime with a homer; Francisco Lindor is 4-for-8 with 1 home run and 2 triples; Pete Alonso is 4-for-9 with 3 dingers; Juan Soto is 3-for-12 with 2 HRs and a triple.
Griffin Canning has been solid for the Mets, but he faces a Diamondbacks squad that is scoring in the first inning a third of the time. The top 2 guys in Arizona’s lineup (Geraldo Perdomo and Corbin Carroll) on Sunday combined to go 6-for-11 with 6 RBIs and 3 runs scored during an 11-9 win over Philadelphia. All things considered, each club has a good chance to cross the plate right away in this one.
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Seattle Mariners vs Oakland Athletics: NRFI (-104)
Both Bryce Miller and Luis Severino are getting along quite nicely so far this season. Miller has compiled a 3.52 ERA for Seattle with 31 strikeouts through 30.2 innings. Two of his last 3 outings have featured 5.0 innings of shutout baseball and he has worked 5.0 innings with no more than 1 run allowed in 3 of his last 4 starts. For Oakland, Severino is sporting a 3.30 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. He has logged at least 6.1 innings with 2, 1 and 0 runs given up in 3 of his last 4 appearances.
The matchup for each pitcher should be favorable. The Athletics are putting at least 1 run on the board in the first inning just 29.41 percent of the time in 2025. Lawrence Butler is 2-for-4 with a homer off Miller, but nobody else has ever done anything against him. He pitched to the NRFI against Oakland on March 30 and was one-third of an inning away from earning a quality start. The Mariners have operated at an effective level in the first inning this year, but they were completely shut down when they previously faced Severino (6.0 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs).
