MLB Picks 5/29 – Yankees @ A’s

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The New York Yankees (34-22) open a three-game set on the road against the Athletics (27-29) in Sacramento at Sutter Health Park. Tonight’s contest will be the fourth head-to-head matchup and final regular-season series meeting between the Yankees and A’s. The Athletics took two of three from New York at Yankee Stadium in early April. Despite the disparity in payrolls and expectations, the Athletics are a respectable 4-5 against the Yankees since the beginning of the 2025 season. 

Both teams had the day off yesterday. 

New York is coming off a dominant three-game sweep of the Royals in Kansas City. They shutout Kansas City 7-0 in the series finale on Wednesday night. Gerritt Cole struck out 10 batters over 6.2 innings for New York in his second start of the year since returning from Tommy John surgery. The Yankees outscored the Royals 26-4 in the three-game sweep. New York has won 14 in a row against Kansas City.

The Athletics suffered a three-game sweep at home courtesy of the Seattle Mariners in their previous series. Seattle pounded the Athletics 9-1 in the series finale on Wednesday afternoon. Rob Refsnyder and Julio Rodriguez hit three-run homers for Seattle. The A’s could only muster 4 runs in the three games, while Seattle totaled 22 runs. The Athletics have lost 3 in a row and 5 of their last 6. 

Tonight’s starters are Carlos Rodon (0-2, 4.15 ERA, 17 strikeouts in 3 starts) for New York and Luis Severino (2-2, 4.23, 64 strikeouts in 11 starts) for the Athletics.

GAME ODDS

Moneyline: New York (-156),  Athletics (+129)

Run Line: New York -1.5 (+104),   Athletics +1.5 (-126)

Run Total: over 10 (-108),   under 10 (-112)

GAME STORYLINES: NEW YORK

Last season, the New York Yankees posted a sparkling 94-68 record. It was the 7th time in 8 seasons that the Yankees finished with at least 90 wins after a full season. Unfortunately, their 94 wins — which tied for the best record in the American League and third-best record in MLB — was not enough to win the ultra-competitive American League East as the surprising Toronto Blue Jays also finished with 94 wins and held the tiebreaker over the Yankees which allowed the Blue Jays to win the division. 

Toronto winning the American League East by a tiebreaker clinched the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the American League playoffs, while the Yankees fell to fourth. Securing the top seed would play a big factor in the postseason as Toronto and New York met in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, with Toronto eliminating New York 3-1. Toronto erupted for 23 runs against New York in Games 1 and 2 at home (winning 10-1 in Gm1 and 13-7 in Gm2) which set the tone for the series.

After the somewhat disappointing end to the 2025 season, New York did not make any flashy offseason additions like they usually do. Their biggest offseason transaction was re-signing star outfielder Cody Bellinger to a five-year, $162 million contract. The Yankees acquired Bellinger from the Cubs via trade in December 2024, and he was tremendous in his debut season wearing the pinstripes.

Cody Bellinger batted .272 with 29 homers and 98 RBI over 152 games last season. It was his highest home run and RBI totals since his 2019 MVP season with the Los Angeles Dodgers when he finished with career-highs of 47 homers and 115 RBI. 

The return of Yankees ace Gerritt Cole for the 2026 season could also be considered a huge addition. The 2023 Cy Young Award winner and 6-time All-Star missed the entire 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2025. Despite winning 94 games, New York’s lack of a consistent third starting pitcher outside of Max Fried and Carlos Rodon was a glaring weakness last year. A healthy Cole in 2025 would have made a huge difference.

Gerritt Cole has been exceptional in his return this season. He’s 1-0 with 12 strikeouts to 3 walks and a 0.00 ERA over his two starts against Tampa Bay on May 22, and at Kansas City on Tuesday night (May 27). 

With their customary star-studded lineup intact, New York entered the 2026 season with high expectations yet again. At 34-22, the Yankees own the second-best record in the American League, and fifth-best record in baseball, but currently find themselves in a similar position as last season where the AL’s top team resides in their division. This season that team is Tampa Bay (34-19) instead of Toronto. The Rays have a 1.5-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East. 

A faulty bullpen and somewhat slow starts from several standout hitters (Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, Austin Wells, Jazz Chisolm) are reasons why the Yankees find themselves looking up at the Tampa Bay Rays. Despite these minor issues, the Yankees are still among the elite teams in MLB, and will likely finish with one of the MLB’s best records again.

The duo of two-time reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge (.252, team-leading 17 HR, 34 RBI, 40 walks in 56 gms) and emerging, third-year infielder Ben Rice (.290, 16 HR, 37 RBI) have carried the Yankees offensively through the early part of the year. Last season, the 34-year-old, 7-time All-Star Judge became the first American League player to win back-to-back MVPs since Miguel Cabrera in 2012 and 2013. The 27-year-old Rice experienced a breakout season last year with 26 homers and 65 RBI across 138 games. He’ll likely surpass those numbers this year by a wide margin.  

In addition to the dominance of the aforementioned Gerritt Cole, New York is also getting phenomenal pitching from a pair of second-year stars in Cam Schlittler (7-2, 1.50 ERA, 81:13 K:BB in 12 starts) and Will Warren (6-1, 3.55 ERA, 65:16, K:BB in 11 starts). The 25-year-old Schlittler ranks 5th amongst all MLB pitchers in strikeouts and is currently the favorite (+200) to win the 2026 AL Cy Young Award.

GAME STORYLINES: ATHLETICS

For 56 years (1968-2024), the Oakland Athletics played their home games at the venerable Oakland Coliseum and were a proud franchise that won three World Series crowns in 1972, 1973 and 1989. After the 2021 season, Oakland’s management made the controversial decision to jettison their star players. Position players Matt Olson, Sean Murphy, Marcus Semien and Matt Chapman, along with starting pitchers Chris Bassitt and Sean Manea were all traded or allowed to walk as free agents. 

The aforementioned six players made up a talented core that led the Oakland A’s to a bevy of wins over the previous four seasons (2018-2021). Oakland finished 97-65 in 2018 and 2019, 36-24 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season and 86-76 in 2021. Oakland’s record plummeted to 60-102 in 2022 after the fire sale. Oakland’s 60 wins was their worst mark after a full season since 1979 (54-108). The A’s hit rock bottom the next year when they finished with one of the worst records in MLB history at 50-112. 

Oakland’s back-to-back dismal seasons in 2022 and 2023 led to record-low attendance, and with the lease for the Oakland Coliseum expiring after the 2024 season, ownership had the perfect opportunity to move the franchise to another city. And in April 2023, A’s ownership secured a land deal with the city of Las Vegas. MLB owners then unanimously approved the move to Las Vegas on November 16, 2023. 

The Las Vegas Athletics $2 Billion, 33,000-seat stadium is scheduled to open in time for the 2028 season. While the Las Vegas stadium is being built, the Athletics agreed to play their home games in Sacramento at Heath Park beginning last season in 2025 through the 2027 season. The 14,014-seat stadium is the home of the Sacramento River Cats, which is the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. 

Through all the tumult surrounding the Athletics franchise since 2022, they’ve been able to quickly build a pretty formidable team led by players they drafted and acquired in trades since the fire sale of their star players began around 2020. Catcher Shea Langeliers (trade-2022), left fielder Tyler Soderstrom (draft-2020), first baseman Nick Kurtz (draft-2024), outfielder/designated hitter Brent Rooker (waivers-2022) and shortstop Jacob Wilson (draft-2023) have all quickly developed into key contributors for the A’s.

Shea Langeliers (.298, 13 HR, 28 RBI in 51 gms) leads the Athletics in homers, while 23-year-old Nick Kurtz (.274, 8 HR, 37 RBI in 55 gms) leads the team in RBI. Langeliers was the centerpiece in the trade package from Atlanta for superstar slugger Matt Olson. Kurtz was named the unanimous 2025 American League Rookie of the Year after amassing an extraordinary debut season where he batted .290 with 36 homers and 86 RBI. Teammate Jacob Wilson finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. 

Nick Kurtz’s 36 homers last season was the most by an A’s rookie since Mark McGwire hit 49 in 1987. On July 25, 2025, Kurtz became the first rookie in MLB history to hit 4 homers in a game, during a 15-3 victory at Houston. His 19 total bases matched an MLB-record. 

The emergence of the Athletics’ talented, young core of players led to a 76-86 finish last season, which was a 7-game improvement over the 2024 season and a 26-game improvement over the 2023 season when the Oakland A’s bottomed out at 50-112. The A’s hovered at or above the .500 mark for most of this season until their recent skid where they’ve lost 5 of 6.

If this young core of players continues to improve, the A’s could be contenders by the time the new stadium opens on Opening Day 2028 and they officially become the Las Vegas Athletics.

THE PICK: YANKEES (Run Line)

The A’s enter tonight’s game in somewhat of a tailspin after suffering an embarrassing three-game sweep at home where Seattle outscored them by a combined score of 22-4. I don’t think things are going to get any better for the Athletics with the star-studded New York Yankees coming to town. Take the Yankees on the Run Line tonight!