We close out the month of May with some Sunday baseball and lots of pitching matchups that I love. We have some NRFI bets for May 31.
Sunday baseball is on all day, so make sure to get in on some of these NRFI spots bright and early. Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
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MLB NRFI and YRFI Picks – May 31
Minnesota Twins vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
First Pitch – 1:35 pm EST
PNC Park – Pittsburgh, PA
Broadcast – MLB TV
Kicking off the NRFI at the plate will be the Twins. They broke out for nine runs in a loss on Saturday, but had scored just nine runs over the three games prior. In addition to having some recent struggles at the plate, they have not been sharp early in games either. They rank 19th in first inning scoring on the year with just 0.52 first inning runs per game. That won’t get easier with Braxton Ashcraft on the bump. The big righty has posted a 1.82 ERA in the month of May with four starts allowing one or fewer runs.
To close out the NRFI, we’ll get an arm that has been even better – albeit in a small sample. Zebby Matthews gets his fourth start of the year on Sunday and the first three did not disappoint. He’s carrying a 2.37 ERA with 17 strikeouts in just 19.0 innings. Similar to the Twins, they had a big run scoring outburst on Saturday, but had been slumping a bit prior. Matthews should have the stuff to calm them back down – at least for one inning.
NRFI/YRFI Bet for May 31: No (TBD)
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Houston Astros
First Pitch – 2:10 pm EST
Daikin Park – Houston, TX
Broadcast – MLB TV
For our second NRFI play, we’ll kick things off with Tatsuya Imai. You can’t have a much better start than he did last time out, where he gave Houston 6.0 innings of no-hit ball on the way to a combined no-hitter. While his year numbers are still lagging a bit, he’s looked very good since coming back from injury. The Brewers have been a good hitting team, but have scored just nine total runs over their last three games. Look for Imai to get us a quick three in the top of the first.
The bottom of the first should be no sweat at all. That’s not because we’re fading the bats of the Astros – they rank in the middle of the pack in terms of most offensive metrics. We’re not sweating because Jacob Misiorowski is on the bump and he may be the best pitcher on the planet. In the month of May, he’s posted a 0.29 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 31.1 innings. I’d take him in an NRFI situation against an All-Star team at this stage.
NRFI/YRFI Bet for May 31: No (TBD)
If you’d like even more info to help make your NRFI and YRFI picks for May 31, check out the MLB Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar with their MLB picks today.
