Yankees vs Rays Picks and Prediction – 4/18/2025

The New York Yankees play the second game of a four-game series on the road Friday versus the Tampa Bay Rays. New York improved to 11-7 following its 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday. Aaron Judge homered to put New York ahead for good. The home run was Judge’s first in 11 games. New York leads the American League East by a half-game over Toronto. Keep up to date with all the MLB action with our MLB picks.

Aaron Judge is batting .409 with seven home runs, 21 RBI, 27 hits, and an on-base percentage of .519 to lead New York in the five categories. Jazz Chisholm Jr is second in home runs with six. Through the first 18 games of the regular season, New York has hit 33 home runs. On Friday, New York will send Carlos Rodon to the mound. The left-hander is 1-3 with a 5.48 ERA, 28 Ks, and 12 BBs.

The Tampa Bay Rays dropped to 8-10 following a 1-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday. Tampa Bay struggles at the plate with 13 strikeouts in Wednesday’s loss. Tampa Bay has lost two straight and three of the last five. The Rays are fourth in the American League East, three games behind the first-place Yankees.

Jonathan Aranda is batting .396 with 19 hits and an on-base percentage of .464 to lead Tampa Bay in the three statistical categories. Junior Caminero is the leader in home runs with four, and Brandon Lowe is the leader in RBI with 11. On Friday, the Tampa Bay Rays will send Drew Rasmussen to the mound. The right-hander is 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA, 15 Ks, and 2 BBs.

Tampa Bay has struggled to start the season, but will have its best pitcher thus far this season on the mound Friday. Tampa Bay starter Drew Rasmussen has been tough in three outings, allowing just one run across 15.0 innings. New York starter Carlos Rodon has been hit hard in each of the last three outings, allowing 13 runs across 17.2 innings, with the Yankees losing all three. Final Score Prediction: Tampa Bay Rays win 5-1.