The Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees turned in another classic with a thrilling Game 4 that the Yankees just managed to eke out in the end. The spotlight will remain on Guardians vs Yankees on Saturday, Oct. 19, as the two clash in Game 5, which is a potential elimination game.
Our experts are all over it with their MLB best bets — two props and picks for Josh Naylor and Juan Soto.
MLB Best Bets Today
The team logos in the table below represent each of the matchups that our MLB betting staff is targeting from ALCS Game 5. Click on the team logos for any of the matchups below to navigate to a Guardians vs Yankees bet discussed in this article.
| Game | Time (ET) | Pick |
|---|---|---|
  | 8:08 p.m. | |
| 8:08 p.m. | |
Specific betting recommendations come from the sportsbook offering preferred odds as of writing. Always shop for the best price using our MLB Odds page, which automatically surfaces the best lines for every game. | ||
Tony Sartori's Yankees vs Guardians Best Bet: Fade Josh Naylor
By Tony Sartori
The New York Yankees hand the ball to left-hander Carlos Rodon in Game 5.
Rodon's greatest strength as a pitcher is his ability to rack up strikeouts, evidenced by the fact that he finished the regular season ranked in the 72nd percentile or higher in chase, whiff and strikeout rates.
I want to take advantage of that ability to fade Josh Naylor of the Cleveland Guardians, who has a propensity to chase pitches. This season, he ranked in the bottom quarter of the league in chase rate and saw a decline in overall production when facing southpaws (.224 BA).
Subsequently, Naylor carries a mere .167 BA and 30.8% strikeout rate through 13 career plate appearances against Rodon.
He has also failed to record a hit in three of the past five games.
Pick: Josh Naylor Under 0.5 Hits (+125 | Play to +120)
| |
Alex Hinton's Juan Soto Player Prop Pick
By Alex Hinton
Gleyber Torres led off Game 4 with a single to right field. He was quickly brought in to score after Juan Soto blasted a 414-foot home run to dead center field. It was Soto’s second homer of the postseason and ninth in his career.
Soto is hitting .286 with a .952 OPS over the postseason, with five runs and five RBI. He has reached base safely in all eight games he's played this postseason, recording a hit in five of them. That includes a first-inning single off Tanner Bibee in Game 2. Soto is 2-for-3 against the Guardians starter.
Bibee lasted just 1 1/3 innings in that start. Playing for the third consecutive day, the Guardians could use some length from him, but who knows if manager Stephen Vogt will let that happen if the Yankees get rolling early.
What I do know is Soto has hit this line in six of his last 10 games and nine of his last 13 against Cleveland.
I expect those trends to continue tonight.
Pick: Juan Soto Over 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBI
| |
