Toronto Blue Jays vs. San Diego Padres: Odds, Prediction
The Padres are -115 favourites to win on the MLB odds.
Betting Analysis
The Padres the past couple of seasons tried to act like a big-market team in terms of payroll. It helped San Diego get to the 2022 NL Championship Series, but the Friars lost in five to Philadelphia. Last year, the team underachieved and missed the playoffs, and ownership mandated that payroll be cut. That meant trading All-Star outfielder Juan Soto to the New York Yankees for prospects. Soto is set for free agency next winter and probably asks for $500 million. The Padres can’t afford that, so it was a smart move. They also let 2023 NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell walk in free agency.
San Diego is one of five MLB franchises to never win a World Series (along with Tampa Bay, Milwaukee, Colorado and Seattle), and that’s not changing in 2024. These teams have played just 18 times and split them. Toronto lost two of three at Rogers Centre last year in the lone meeting and hasn’t been to pitcher-friendly Petco Park since 2013. The Jays are 5-4 all-time in San Diego.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Jays may not have many tougher losses in 2024 than Wednesday’s 6-4 home defeat to the Yankees when Toronto had a chance to sweep New York and win a fifth straight game. The Yanks trailed 4-1 entering the eighth and 4-2 entering the ninth but knocked around relievers Genesis Cabrera, Erik Swanson (just back from the injured list) and Tim Mayza. New York star Aaron Judge was 0-for-12 against Toronto in the series before coming through on a go-ahead two-RBI single off Mayza with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the ninth. Why was the lefty Mayza facing Judge in the first place? After the game, Manager John Schneider said reliever Chad Green was not available because of a sore shoulder. Closer Jordan Romano had been activated off the injured list and used Tuesday and apparently wasn’t an option, either. Daulton Varsho had two homers in Wednesday’s loss, his first two-homer game since Sept. 7, 2022. Rookie righty Yariel Rodriguez makes his second big-league start Friday on the mound for the Jays. The 27-year-old Cuban went 3.2 innings in his debut last Saturday vs. Colorado, allowing one run and four hits with six strikeouts in a no-decision.
San Diego Padres
San Diego is 4-5 at Petco Park this season and finished a very tough six-game trip to the Dodgers and Brewers at 4-2 following a 1-0 loss in Milwaukee on Wednesday, the first time the Padres have been blanked in 2024. They outhit the Brewers 5-3. Former All-Star Xander Bogaerts was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and is just 10-for-67 in the past 17 games and down to .200 on the season. Infielder Jake Cronenworth (.254, 3 HRs, 14 RBIs) missed the final two games of the series with a calf injury. Right-hander Matt Waldron (0-1, 3.14) is the only knuckleball pitcher currently in the majors and on the hill Friday for San Diego, although he doesn’t throw the knuckler the majority of the time. Waldron considers it more like his version of a changeup. The 27-year-old was great this spring to win the No. 5 spot in the rotation. Waldron was smacked around in his regular season debut but has surrendered only one earned run over 10.1 innings in his past two while getting little run support. He has never faced Toronto.