Toronto Blue Jays vs. Washington Nationals: Odds, Prediction
Two teams trying to stay in their respective wild-card races face off in a series opener on Monday night as the struggling Toronto Blue Jays visit Washington in Max Scherzer’s return to D.C. The Nationals are -132 favourites on the MLB odds with a total of 10.
MLB Betting Odds and Trends
What will each of these teams do ahead of next Monday’s trade deadline? It now seems more and more likely that Toronto will not be returning to the post-season so the Blue Jays could start selling off pieces. The team has shown no signs of life out of the All-Star break, and the AL East is not winnable sitting in last place. A wild-card spot would be awfully tough currently 5.5 games out of the final spot and with many other teams in front. Toronto is +1040 for the playoffs.
Washington won’t win the NL East but is only a game out of the NL’s final wild-card spot and +680 for the playoffs, which the franchise hasn’t reached since winning its only World Series in 2019. The Nationals made a very interesting deal over the weekend with Boston, sending breakout third baseman Curtis Mead to the Red Sox for touted young pitcher Connelly Early, although he’s currently hurt. That certainly hurts Washington in the short team as Mead was batting .254 with 17 homers and 48 RBI. But the team is deep in bats and badly needed starting pitching even if Early may not help much in 2026.
The Blue Jays went 3-0 vs. Washington last year at Rogers Centre but went 1-2 in its last visit to Nationals Park in 2024.
Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto is 3-7 out of the break and hasn’t won a series after dropping the rubber game in Boston on Sunday, 6-1, as the offence returned to its quiet ways after a mini-breakout Saturday of six runs scored. The Jays didn’t get their lone run Sunday until the ninth. It’s possible that day was Kevin Gausman’s last as a starting pitcher for the Blue Jays as he’s reportedly on the block.
And the big news Monday is the return from yet another injured list stint for future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer – on his 42nd birthday. One of his career highlights came in 2019 when he led Washington to that lone Fall Classic title. Presumably, this will be Scherzer’s last time ever pitching there as it’s hard to imagine he returns next season at age 43.
Scherzer might not be pitching in the majors much longer this year if he doesn’t quickly turn around his numbers: 1-4 with a 10.23 ERA (would be easily the worst of any qualified starter but Scherzer is not) in six starts. His last was on June 10. Scherzer is probably looking at a pitch count on Monday. His only road start of the year went pretty well as he allowed two runs over six in a no-decision at Arizona. The Jays are 1-4 in their past five road games.
Washington Nationals
The Nationals are definitely much improved this year, and the future might be bright led by All-Stars in outfielder James Wood and shortstop CJ Abrams. Wood is fifth in the league in homers, but that’s not a shock. That Abrams leads the majors in RBIs with 82 is truly shocking considering his previous career high was 64. He is scorching hot with seven homers in his past seven games and batting an absurd .567 in that stretch with 14 RBIs. But you hear he could be traded simply as Abrams will get very expensive starting next year in arbitration. He’s criminally underpaid this year at $4.2 million (US).
Lefty Andrew Alvarez (2-3, 4.22 ERA) is on the mound Monday, and the Jays have been one of the worst lineups in the majors vs. southpaws. Alvarez is a converted reliever, so he won’t be going too deep. He has gone at least five innings only once. It’s the 27-year-old’s first career look at Toronto. The Nats are 5-2 in their past seven.
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