MLB NRFI Picks for Opening Day – See the YRFI & NRFI Odds for All Games Plus Best Bets

• The NRFI and YRFI odds are out for all 14 MLB Opening Day games
• The NRFI is favored in every single game on Opening Day 2025
• Below, see the NRFI/YRFI odds for every game on the schedule plus NRFI picks for Opening Day

The return of Major League Baseball today also means the return of one of the most-popular forms of wagering: the NRFI (no runs in first inning) and it’s slightly less-popular cousin, the YRFI (yes runs in first inning). With 14 games on the Opening Day slate, there are 28 options on the NRFI/YRFI board. The table below sets out the NRFI/YRFI odds from every game in chronological order. Under the table, find my favorite NRFI/YRFI picks to target on Opening Day 2025.

Opening Day NRFI/YRFI Odds

Thursday’s MLB odds show that the NRFI is favored over the YRFI in every single game on the Opening Day schedule, which isn’t a huge surprise given that every team has their #1 starter on the bump. The odds range from -186 in Pirates vs Marlins to to -115 in Cubs vs Diamondbacks in the final game of the day. The corresponding YRFI odds for those two games are +144 and -111, respectively.

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Best NRFI Pick for Opening Day: Pirates vs Marlins

My favorite NRFI pick of the day is, unfortunately, the one with the shortest odds. Pirates vs Marlins features an absolutely elite pitching matchup – Paul Skenes vs Sandy Alcantara – and two bad offenses. At least, two offenses that were bad last year and didn’t make too many notable improvements in the offseason.

Skenes starts the year as the +250 favorite in the NL Cy Young odds, while Alcantara is the sixth-favorite at +1850.

The Marlins were actually the best YRFI team last season (91-71) but that was largely thanks to a subpar starting rotation during a season that Alcantara missed entirely due to Tommy John surgery. Pittsburgh was one of the top NRFI teams, going 67-95 to the under.

Alcantara has a phenomenal history against the two players who project to be at the top of the Pittsburgh lineup, DH Andrew McCutchen and RF Bryan Reynolds; McCutchen is 1-for-11 career against the 6’5 righty with five Ks and two walks. Reynolds is 0-for-8 with two Ks and two walks.

It gets a bit dicier from there. Three-hitter Oneil Cruz is 1-for-2 with a home and cleanup hitter Joey Bart is 2-for-2 with a homer. But if Alcantara can get the first two batters, his life is going to be easier when Cruz is at the dish.

Best YRFI Pick for Opening Day: Orioles vs Blue Jays

The pitching matchup in BAL/TOR – Zach Eflin vs Jose Berrios – is solid on paper but I’m not confident in either getting out of the first inning unscathed. The 30-year-old Eflin is coming off by far the best half-season of his career. Owner of a lifetime 4.17 ERA, Eflin posted a 2.60 mark in nine starts with Baltimore after getting traded from Tampa midseason. But over the entire 2024 season, he still had a 3.81 xFIP, which is tied for his highest over the last five seasons.

The top of the Toronto order has had plenty of success against Eflin, too. While Bo Bichette is only 2-for-14, Vlad Guerrero Jr is 7-for-19 with two homers, Anthony Santander is 3-for-12 with a homer, and George Springer is 4-for-14 with a homer.

Though Gunnar Henderson – the third-favorite in the AL MVP odds – is unlikely to play for the O’s, two of Baltimore’s first four hitters have still hammered Berrios. Adley Rutschman is 13-for-22 (.591) with three long balls and four RBI, and Ryan O’Hearn is 10-for-31 (.323) with two homers and four RBI.

Toronto’s Rogers Center is an above-average HR park (103 last season, 13th-most in MLB) and I like the chances of a solo shot in the first.