MLB Playoffs 2020: Odds, TV Schedule, Fantasy Predictions for Friday

The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays will fight it out for the final league championship series berth Friday night in Game 5 of the ALDS.

The American League East rivals split the first four games of the best-of-five series at Petco Park and will turn to their top hurlers to open the lone contest on the MLB playoff schedule. 

Gerrit Cole returns to the mound for the Yankees after he helped win Game 1, while Tampa Bay's Game 2 starter Tyler Glasnow opens the series-deciding contest. 

While it is intriguing to play the two pitchers with high strikeout rates in daily fantasy contests, it is hard to know how they will react to pitching on short rest. 

The best fantasy options for Game 5 are the power hitters in both lineups, including one who has to back up a prediction made following Game 4.

MLB Friday Playoff Schedule

Game 5: New York Yankees (-152) vs. Tampa Bay (+130) (7:10 p.m. ET, TBS)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Fantasy Predictions

Luke Voit Backs Up Winning Prediction

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Luke Voit delivered a strong prediction in the moments following New York's Game 4 triumph when he stated "we're going to win," per USA Today's Bob Nightengale.

Perhaps the first baseman was feeling extra confident Thursday night since he pummeled his first home run of the series off Ryan Thompson in the 5-1 victory.

Of course, Voit is not going to say the Yankees will lose Game 5, but it is notable that he declared a victorious performance is on the way Friday. 

The 29-year-old struggled in Game 2 against Glasnow, as he walked once and struck out on three occasions. He had a single hit in the first three games of the ALDS.

Now that Voit has a long ball to his name and Glasnow is starting on two days' rest, he could take advantage of the matchup and help the Yankees chase the right-handed hurler in the first few innings. 

Glasnow is not expected to be on the mound for long due to his short rest, but if the Rays could get three or four innings out of him, it would allow Blake Snell to enter and then the bullpen to take over around the fifth or sixth. 

Voit was 1-for-4 versus Glasnow in the regular season, but that one hit was a home run. If he banks off the confidence gained from his Game 4 dinger, the first baseman could be in for a big night.

Use Ji-Man Choi For His Success Against Gerrit Cole

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Ji-Man Choi has turned into Cole's worst nightmare. 

The Tampa Bay first baseman homered off the Yankees ace in Game 1 and produced three long balls against the right-handed hurler in the last two regular seasons. 

Choi is having a decent series with four hits, a double and a home run, but he could boost those totals if he takes advantage of his history with Cole once again. In the regular season, the South Korean owns a .667 batting average, 2.400 OPS, three home runs and eight RBI versus the New York pitcher. 

Since Cole typically does not start on short rest in the postseason, he could be susceptible to a few mistakes that he maybe wouldn't make on the regular four days' rest. 

If anything, Choi is worth a position on your fantasy roster because he has the best numbers of any Yankees or Rays batter against the two starting pitchers. 

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90

Statistics obtained from MLB.com