New York Yankees starter Nestor Cortes has been in a prolonged funk this season after being one of the most successful pitchers in the American League last season. He will get an opportunity to right the ship when taking the ball against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night. With just two MLB games tabbed for the nighttime slate, bettors will be zeroing in on some of the best Blue Jays-Yankees bets to wager on. Despite the string of poor performances, there is one Cortes prop that carries value.
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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published at 2:47 p.m. CT.
Best Blue Jays-Yankees Bets: Back This Nestor Cortes Prop | May 18
Nestor Cortes Player Prop: O/U 4.5 Strikeouts
Cortes used deception and plenty of funk to keep hitters off balance and produce swings-and-misses during his strong 2022 campaign. But it has been a different story in 2023, mostly thanks to his previous two starts this month. He had gone over the 4.5 mark on four consecutive occasions before his last two outings resulted in clunkers. Cortes lasted just 4.1 innings allowing six earned runs against the Tampa Bay Rays his last time out.
Still, Cortes’ long history of success would indicate he is more than capable of bouncing back in this spot, and sportsbooks have set the over/under on strikeouts too low for a pitcher of his caliber. OddsShopper Premium has over 4.5 strikeouts (+100 on DraftKings Sportsbook) listed as a top Blue Jays-Yankees bet. New users at DraftKings looking to take advantage of this line can also get $150 in bonus bets with any $5 wager!
Cortes is facing a tough Blue Jays lineup but has seen plenty of success against them in the past. In his three starts against Toronto in 2022, he had a 1.98 ERA and batters hit just .192 against him.
Although Cortes has been struggling mightily of late, he should be able to miss enough bats to make the over 4.5 strikeouts a solid bet to lock in before first pitch.
Best Blue Jays-Yankees Bets: Nestor Cortes Over 4.5 Strikeouts (+100 at DraftKings Sportsbook)
