Pirates vs. Dodgers Betting Odds, Player Props, Picks for April 25

The two favorites to win the National League Cy Young Award face off at Dodger Stadium on Friday night. 

Paul Skenes is listed ahead of Yoshinobu Yamamoto to win the Cy Young, but on Friday, Yamamoto is the favored pitcher. 

The Dodgers are not just favored to take down Skenes, but they are the third-largest favorite on Friday’s Major League Baseball board at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto Over 6.5 Strikeouts (-170) 

Yamamoto has gone over this number in three of his five starts, and each time he's gone over, he's done so easily.

The Japanese right-hander fanned 10 batters twice, once against Texas and one versus Detroit, and he whiffed nine batters in a matchup with the Chicago Cubs. 

The Pirates have the eighth-most punchouts against right-handers. In comparison, the Cubs are fourth, Detroit is 17th and Texas is 19th.

As a whole, the Pirates have the fifth-most strikeouts. The Cubs and Tigers both rank in the top 12 in overall strikeouts. 

Yamamoto has a similarly favorable matchup on paper on Friday as he did in the outings versus the Cubs and Tigers. Both of those high totals were recorded inside Dodger Stadium.

The blueprint to get to seven K's is almost too easy for Yamamoto, and because of that, you should look into betting his strikeout ladder as well.

Paul Skenes Over 4.5 Hits Allowed (-110)

The Dodgers did not seem to be overwhelmed by Skenes’ stuff in two meetings last season. 

Skenes gave up seven earned runs on 12 hits and was tagged for three home runs over 12 innings. 

Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Andy Pages went deep off Skenes. Ohtani went 2-for-6 with a home run and Hernandez went 3-for-5 with a long ball against the reigning NL Rookie of the Year. 

On top of that familiarity, Skenes has allowed six hits in two of his five starts this season and hasn’t had more than seven strikeouts in a single outing in 2025. 

More balls are being put in play against Skenes, and with that comes a higher chance for hits compared to the back end of 2024, when he was hitting the eight-to-nine strikeout range with more regularity. 

Dodgers -1.5 Run Line (+110) 

Yamamoto is the more trustworthy shutdown pitcher at this early stage of the season. 

Additionally, the Dodgers are far more likely to change the game with one swing. They are tied for the league lead in homers at 41, while Pittsburgh only has 20. The Dodgers have more home runs at home than the Pirates do as a team. 

Los Angeles is 4-1 on the run line this season with Yamamoto on the mound and Pittsburgh’s last two losses with Skenes starting were by multiple runs.

Click into the DraftKings display below for more on this game and the rest of tonight's schedule.