Toronto Blue Jays vs. Detroit Tigers: Odds, Prediction
The Blue Jays start a seven-game road trip against 2025 playoff teams on Friday night by making their only visit of the season to Detroit to kick off a three-game set. Toronto is -125 on the MLB odds with a total of eight runs.
Betting Analysis
The Detroit Tigers haven’t won the World Series since that memorable 1984 team or a pennant since 2012. Ownership thought it had a team capable this year, and that’s why it rebuffed all winter trade offers for ace lefty and two-time reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal ahead of his unrestricted free agency.
Thus, it was crushing news recently when Skubal went under the knife for elbow surgery; he was favoured for a third straight AL Cy Young, which no pitcher has ever accomplished. The good news is that it was only a clean-up procedure and not a ligament repair, so he should be back this summer. The original timeline was 2-3 months, but now some positive estimates are six weeks. But in what shape will the scuffling Tigers, currently +175 to return to the playoffs, be by then? That may affect whether Skubal is put on the trade market, and Skubal on the trade market would change everything. He will be pitching on some big-market club in 2027, if there is a 2027 season that is.
Friday marks the first meeting of the season between the Blue Jays and Tigers, with Detroit visiting Toronto in mid-September. The Jays won the series last year 4-3 and were 3-1 at Comerica Park.
Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto snapped a three-game skid and avoided a home sweep vs. division rival Tampa Bay on Wednesday with a 5-3 win in 10 innings. The Blue Jays got a walk-off grand slam from Daulton Varsho with one out in the bottom of the 10th. He was just 3-for-20 against the Rays entering into that at-bat and hadn’t homered against any team since April 30.
It was the Jays’ first walk-off slam since Steve Pearce in 2017. Not all victories in MLB are created equal, and that was a big one. Otherwise, the Jays come into this series having lost four in a row and seven games under .500 – and they are 6-13 on the road.
Stellar rookie righty Trey Yesavage (1-1, 0.68 ERA) is scheduled on the mound Friday. The 22-year-old has allowed just one run in 13.1 innings over his three starts. Control can still be a problem and the Jays won’t let Yesavage ring up heavy pitch counts, so he hasn’t gone more than five innings yet. This will be his first career look at the Tigers. Toronto is 10-4 in its past 14 as a favourite.
Detroit Tigers
While the Blue Jays were off on Thursday and able to reset their bullpen, the Tigers lost 9-4 at the New York Mets to be swept three games. Detroit has utterly fallen apart since the Tarik Skubal injury, having dropped eight of nine.
Things seemed to boil over Thursday with manager AJ Hinch ejected. His seat is getting warmer. Rookie shortstop Kevin McGonigle has been terrific and is the +150 favourite for AL Rookie of the Year. The 21-year-old is batting .293 with seven steals while playing strong defence and worth a WAR of 2.3.
Ty Madden (0-0, 2.45 ERA) takes the mound Friday. He was called up after Skubal’s injury and has made two starts; Detroit lost both. The 26-year-old has never faced Toronto. The under is 7-2 in Detroit’s past nine Friday games.
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