Yankees vs. Rays Prediction and Odds for Wednesday, June 22 (Back Tampa Bay with Baz on Mound)

The Rays and Yankees have been battling over the past two weeks as they wrap up their second series in as many weeks against one another.

Wednesday, the Rays will send out Shane Baz, one of the many bright young pieces of the rotation, to slow down the MLB best Yankees, who will counter with left hander Jordan Montgomery.

How should we handicap this matchup? Let's first take a look at the odds from WynnBET Sportsbook:

Yankees vs. Rays Odds, Run Line, Total

Run Line:

• Yankees: -1.5 (+120)
• Rays: +1.5 (-145)

Moneyline:

• Yankees: -138
• Rays: +128

Total:

• 7 (OVER: -115/UNDER: -105)

Yankees vs. Rays Prediction and Pick

Tampa Bay has struggled as it battles injuries to the likes of Wander Franco and now Manuel Margot, but it's hard not to be enamored with backing Baz as a home underdog. He is one of the most highly touted prospects in baseball despite a limited sample size in the big leagues. Baz showed his promise last time out, pitching six innings of shutout baseball against the Orioles.

Now, the Yankees are a significant step up in class but I'm backing Baz against them. The Yankees offense is elite of course, but this month have been knocked off their perch of the best offense in baseball, placing fourth in wRC+ and 14th in batting average in June.

The Yanks will counter with Montgomery, who has put together a string of strong starts, allowing five runs over his last four starts that he has pitched into the sixth inning in all of them. However, the Rays have been decent against left handed pitching this year and I buy the upside of Baz as a home underdog.

It's never fun stepping in front of the Yankees, but I'll take a shot with a potential All-Star in the making in Baz.

LEAN: Rays ML +120

You can track all of Reed's plays on betstamp HERE!