Guardians vs. Mariners: Today’s Best No Runs First Inning (NRFI) Bets

We officially made it! Today is Opening Day of the 2023 MLB season. For almost every team in the league, this means the hope of the playoffs and a magical World Series run. For us, that means the return of one of my favorite bets to place, NRFI. For those of you who may be unfamiliar, NRFI or No Runs First Inning is as simple of a concept as it sounds. We are betting neither team will score a run in the first inning. Typically, these bets range between -130 and -190, largely dependent on the starting pitcher for a given day. These articles will come out almost every day from a collection of super-talented writers, and each of us will choose two or three games we like best on the slate.

Also, take a look at our other best bets for Thursday:

Best MLB Opening Day No Runs First Inning Picks

All odds will be from DraftKings Sportsbook

Guardians vs. Mariners 10:10 PM ET

If the first pitching match does not excite you enough, maybe this one will. Luis Castillo takes the ball for the Mariners. After a down 2021 season, Castillo bounced back in a big way and actually posted one of the best seasons of his career. After a career in one of the most HR-prone parks in baseball, he was traded to Seattle, where he gets a massive park improvement. After the trade, his HR numbers were actually slightly worse, but that was more of a small sample problem than anything else. In 2022 his first time through the order wOBA allowed was 0.268. He gets to face a Guardians offense that’s mostly unchanged from last season at the top, except for the addition of Josh Bell. While the top of the order contains OBP threats, the power is lacking, and they may find it difficult to string enough hits together to score off Castillo.

Cleveland is sending their own ace to the mound in Shane Bieber. While Bieber has seen his velocity dip in the last two seasons, his dominance has not wavered. Last year saw a big drop in his K/9, but he limited walks even better than in the last few years allowing him to continue to post elite numbers. He had the best first time through the order wOBA of the group at 0.227. Despite their unquestioned superstar at the top of the order in Julio Rodriguez, I am lower than most on the Mariners’ offense. There are a number of question marks, and a talented pitcher like Shane Bieber will be able to exploit those weaknesses to his advantage.

Pick: -145

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