Boston Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays: Odds, Prediction
The Jays are -125 home favourites on the MLB odds behind Yusei Kikuchi.
Betting Analysis
Now that every MLB team plays all of the other 29 at least one series each, the number of intradivisional games has been cut back to 13, and that’s why Monday is the first time that the Red Sox and Blue Jays play this season. They will have another three-game set at Fenway Park from June 24-26 and then not face off again until after the All-Star break.
Boston is probably better than last year’s team that finished 78-84 and last in the AL East for the second year in a row but not appreciably better, and it’s much more likely than not that the Red Sox will miss the playoffs for a third year in a row. Third baseman Rafael Devers would start for nearly every team in the majors but the rest of the roster is pretty average. If the Sox do miss the postseason again, that surely means that manager Alex Cora will not return in 2025 as he doesn’t have a contract after this season. Cora won’t have trouble finding another managerial gig if so.
Toronto lost the 2023 season series 7-6 but split six games at Rogers Centre.
Boston Red Sox
The Jays might be getting the Red Sox at a good time as they just finished their first series of the season with the hated Yankees on Sunday night. Teams who have to travel to play on Monday after a Sunday night game historically do not fare well. Boston is far from whole currently with regulars such as first baseman Triston Casas, infielder Vaughn Grissom and outfielder Wilyer Abreu all on the injured list. Boston has an MLB-best seven players with an OPS above .800 (minimum 75 plate appearances), but Casas and Abreu are two of them.
It’s veteran right-hander and British Columbia native Nick Pivetta (3-4, 3.88 ERA) on the mound Monday. He has been rather inconsistent in his nine starts and comes off a bad one, allowing four runs over four innings against the Phillies in a no-decision. He is 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA in four road outings and 2-4 with a 5.35 ERA in 79 career innings against the Blue Jays. George Springer is 10-for-27 off him career with two doubles and a homer. Daulton Varsho is 4-for-8 with two homers.
Toronto Blue Jays
Will the Jays have shortstop Bo Bichette in the lineup? He was not in there Sunday against Cleveland for the second straight game due to right calf soreness. Isiah Kiner-Falefa started at short and Ernie Clement at third base. Bichette is 10-for-31 career with two homers and two doubles off Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta, so maybe Bichette is in there at DH on Monday just to get his bat in the lineup if he’s not up to playing the field. Closer Jordan Romano is already on the injured list and now his replacement, Yimi Garcia, might be headed there. Garcia was removed from Sunday’s win over Cleveland with right elbow soreness.
Lefty Yusei Kikuchi (4-5, 3.26 ERA) is on the hill Monday. He has followed back-to-back rough outings with back-to-back excellent ones, allowing just one run and four hits over 11 innings in that span. Kikuchi is 2-4 with a 3.32 ERA in seven home starts and 0-2 with a 6.11 ERA in seven career appearances vs. Boston spanning 28 innings. Rafael Devers has seen him the most, going 2-for-13 with a homer. Masataka Yoshida is 2-for-4 with a homer off his Japanese countryman in MLB.
BOS
TOR