We have some early baseball today, so we need to get into our NRFI and YRFI picks as soon as possible. Today we have a ton of aces and gas cans on the mound, which means there are spots to target for both sides of our first inning wagers. Let’s get into our two NRFI bets today for Tuesday, April 9. If you’re hungry for more, check out our MLB betting tools or our other MLB articles! Also, check out our guide to NRFI & YRFI betting.
NRFI & YRFI Bets Today: Best No & Yes Run First Inning Picks
Chicago White Sox vs. Cleveland Guardians | NRFI & YRFI Bets Today
We’re starting off with a complete dumpster fire of a team on the road against one of the American League’s best, at least in the early days of the 2024 season.
The White Sox don’t do anything well offensively. They are either DFL or close to it in virtually every advanced hitting metric; they don’t walk, they don’t hit the ball hard, they don’t drive in runs, nothing.
Chicago has scored more than one run in a game four times in 10 tries this year. The team has been shut out the same number of times. If a lineup cannot score runs period, we obviously have to look at them as NRFI plays, right?
Right. True, the White Sox are sending the volatile Mike Soroka to the mound, but Soroka has been reasonably competent in his first two Chicago two starts, going five and six innings, allowing six total runs on 13 total hits and not letting a run cross the plate in the first in either outing.
That’s a small sample, but it’s also encouraging.
The Guardians on the other side are producing runs and wins, but they also don’t hit the ball particularly hard — 28th in hard-hit rate — and they have the lowest walk rate in MLB. That’s a good sign for Soroka, plus Logan Allen and his 1.11 WHIP are good bets to keep the basepaths clean in the first. We start our NRFI/YRFI bets with a White Sox-Guardians no run first inning.
YRFI & NRFI Bets Today: White Sox-Guardians NRFI (-103, BetRivers)
Washington Nationals vs. San Francisco Giants | YRFI & NRFI Bets Today
The long-awaited Josiah Gray positive vibes of last year seem to have fully dissipated. He had finally become a solid, and at times good, pitcher in 2023, even making the All-Star team, and then the second half was much more of the Gray we had become accustomed to.
Gray’s last 12 2023 starts saw a 4.76 ERA, a 5.23 FIP and 1.5 WHIP, and he on average walked a batter every other inning. Well, it’s been much worse to start 2024: 14.04 ERA, 6.00 FIP and 2.4 WHIP, and hitters are batting over .400 and slugging over .700 against him.
Now, Gray has only been YRFI’d in one of the two starts, but he allowed six-plus runs in both, so the gas can is sitting awfully close to the bonfire every time he takes the mound.
And this is before we get to the fact that the Giants are tied with the Braves for the No. 1 hard-hit rate in baseball, even though the runs have not exactly been coming in bulk. The way Gray serves them up, however, the top of the Giants order is ripe to turn some of those hard hits into extra bases.
The Nationals lineup is nothing to write home about, and Kyle Harrison is a reasonably effective starter who has yet to allow a first inning run this year. That said, we’re targeting his offense to tag Gray for an early run, and we have good odds at -105 on ESPN BET for that to happen.
YRFI & NRFI Bets Today: Nationals-Giants YRFI (-105, ESPN BET)
