Top Five Toronto Blue Jays Playoff Bets

After a season of highs and lows – more than most Jays fans cared for after all the pre-season hype – Toronto has earned the right to play this fall for a championship ring. Their reward for all the hard work? A date with the AL Central champion Minnesota Twins. Is this a blessing in disguise, given Minnesota’s dubious playoff history? Fans will find out in the coming days.

Check out our MLB odds for plenty of baseball action.

Don’t forget to read our Blue Jays vs Twins preview.

Just before the series opens on Tuesday late afternoon from Minneapolis, let’s take a look at some of the best bets concerning the Jays that readers can play.

Toronto Blue Jays Playoff Bets

1. Will Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. both hit home runs in the Wild Card?

This prop is one of our MLB specials. The answer is no, but not for the reasons some might think.

It feels relatively safe to state that the Jays are the better team in this series. They have a slightly superior collective ERA (3.78 to Minnesota’s 3.87) and decidedly better batting (.256 average, seventh in MLB, to the Twins’ .243, good for only 21^st).

The number one factor is the Twins’ excellent pitching. Pablo Lopez, who starts Game 1, and Sonny Gray have been extraordinary this season, posting ERAs of 3.66 and 2.79, respectively. It isn’t as if Toronto was terrific at hitting home runs to begin with, as they only ranked 16^th with 188 balls sent out of the park. While we think Toronto should win the series, the tête-à-tête could simply be too short for both Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to smash long balls. Don’t be surprised if this ends up being a sweep or a 2-1 series win.

2. Will the Blue Jays win more than 2.5 games?

Another playoff special, the answer is yes.

Obviously, for this to play out, Toronto needs to handle business in the Wild Card round against Minnesota and capture at least one match versus their Divisional Round opponent. The Houston Astros wait in the wings.

Should they defeat the Twins? Yes, we’ve established that, so let’s sneak that in for best Blue Jays bet number three in our series winner prop.

Back to best bet number two. The regular season head-to-head matchups against the defending champions Astros favoured the Jays. They crossed paths seven times (three in Houston, four at Rogers Centre), with the Ontario-based outfit winning four in total – three at home and once as the visitors. Of course, Jays fans want to see their club win the ALDS outright, and that may happen too, but for the purposes of this specific prop, it looks good.

4. Over or under 4.5 runs scored by the Blue Jays in Game 1?

Is this part of the plethora of Game 1 props. The answer is no.

It bears repeating, but this Wild Card matchup, perhaps more than any of the others, is shaping up to be a wonderful pitching duel between Minnesota and Toronto’s rotation and bullpen. We’ve already waxed poetic about the aces that Twins have up their sleeve, but don’t forget about Toronto’s Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt, and Yusei Kikuchi. All have had solid campaigns. Some more than others, but none have gone through anything the statisticians and pundits would describe as a poor season.

In fact, it feels safe to argue that, however long the series lasts, there probably won’t be many runs driven in by either side. We could be looking at a lot of 3-2 and 4-3 final scores.

5. Will the Blue Jays Win the World Series?

Ah, the best for last. Unfortunately, we have to answer “no” on this one. It would make for a heck of a run if the Jays pulled it off, as they’d be going through a murderers row of excellent opponents to finish the job, but it won’t happen.

Why? Well, it’s asking a lot for a club whose modus operandi all year has been its unpredictability. Whenever it was thought that the Blue Jays had fixed their problems by sweeping a big opponent, the next few contests would dash those hopes. Conversely, when it was feared that the club had lost its way, such as the infamous Texas Rangers sweep, they’d course correct immediately, for example by sweeping the Red Sox and in the process destroy whatever playoff aspirations Boston clung to.

For all the talent the roster has – and it has a lot – the team can’t seem to get out of its own way sometimes. The Astros, Rays, Orioles, Braves, Brewers, and Dodgers are all terrific teams that are coming into the postseason looking good, most even a little better than Toronto.

Anything is possible. Maybe the Blue Jays turn on that proverbial switch, but it seems unlikely so late in the season.