Toronto Blue Jays vs. New York Yankees: Odds, Prediction
Toronto makes its first visit of the new season to the New York Yankees on Monday night. The Yanks are slight favourites to win on the MLB odds.
Betting Analysis
There is one big cloud looming over the Yankees this season: Whether the team will let Aaron Judge, arguably New York’s best homegrown player (for sure most popular) since Derek Jeter, hit free agency next winter. Sides don’t usually negotiate during a season as it can be a distraction. Judge reportedly turned down a seven-year, $213.5 million deal recently.
New York’s big off-season move was acquiring former Blue Jay and AL MVP Josh Donaldson from Minnesota for former All-Star catcher Gary Sanchez (a few more players were mixed in on either side). Are the Yankees good enough to win the AL East? If everything breaks right, but they do have a lot of holes, especially in the rotation behind ace and Cy Young favourite Gerrit Cole, who should pitch Wednesday.
Toronto hadn’t won a season series against the Yankees since 2017 but did last year, 11-8. The Jays were 8-2 at Yankee Stadium, their most wins there in six years. The total has gone under in eight of the past 10 meetings at Yankee Stadium.
Toronto Blue Jays
Bo Bichette crushed Yankees pitching in 2021, batting .342 with eight homers and 16 RBIs in 76 at-bats, although he did strikeout 14 times. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. batted .314 with five homers and nine RBIs. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. didn’t have success vs. New York, hitting .152 with 13 strikeouts. Right-hander Alek Manoah is scheduled for his first start on the mound. The 24-year-old right-hander was 9-2 with a 3.22 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 111.2 innings last year as a rookie. His MLB debut was at Yankee Stadium last May, and he was brilliant with six shutout innings and only two hits allowed in a victory. He pitched a second time there in September and took a no-decision, allowing three runs in 5.2 innings. Giancarlo Stanton is 2-for-3 off him. Judge is 0-for-6 with a strikeout. No Yankees batter has homered off Manoah. The Jays are 5-0 in their past five as underdogs (from last year).
New York Yankees
Anthony Rizzo, re-signed this off-season, had success against Blue Jays pitching in 2021, going 9-for-29 with two homers and five RBIs. Judge hit .265 with six homers, 10 RBIs and 15 strikeouts. Stanton hit only .192 and Gleyber Torres .164. The Bombers start right-hander Jameson Taillon on the mound. The 30-year-old was 8-6 with a 4.30 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 29 starts last year, his first season with the club. He didn’t have much luck against the Blue Jays, going 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA in three starts. Toronto hit a collective .255 off him. Guerrero Jr. is 3-for-7 career off Taillon with a homer and double. Bichette is 3-for-7 with a double. Matt Chapman, who went yard in Sunday’s loss to Texas, is 1-for-3 with a homer. The Yankees are 7-2 in their past nine series openers.