Boston at New York

Boston's offense should be fine, but preventing the other guys from scoring is going to be a problem. Ace Chris Sale and James Paxton are rehabbing while Eduardo Rodriguez left in the offseason. The Red Sox had the worst team defense in all of baseball in 2021. Starter Nathan Eovaldi gets the opening day nod, but he wasn't sharp away from Fenway last year with a .500 road record and a 4.21 ERA as batters hit .271 off him. The Red Sox are 7-17 as an underdog and 6-15 as a road dog. New York was ninth in the league in on-base percentage and is loaded up the middle for 2022 with Aaron Judge and newcomer Josh Donaldson, a former AL MVP. Starter Gerrit Cole got a short workload in Spring Training (5+ innings), and his velocity was outstanding, up to 99 MPH. New York has won six of seven against Boston, and the Red Sox are 15-36 at Yankee Stadium. Play New York.