New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays: Odds, Prediction
A stellar Friday of sports action in Canada includes the Blue Jays opening a weekend series at Rogers Centre against the Aaron Judge-less New York Yankees. Behind rookie star Trey Yesavage, Toronto is -112 on the MLB odds with a total of 8.0 runs.
MLB Betting Odds and Trends
It doesn’t get much better than Friday in Canada when it comes to live sports. The Canadian men’s national soccer team plays in the first-ever World Cup game in the country when it faces Bosnia-Herzegovina with a 3 p.m. ET start from BMO Field in Toronto. From the CFL, the Toronto Argonauts open their regular season with a Week 2 matchup at Montreal with 7 p.m. ET kick.
And then we have Game 1 of Yankees-Blue Jays with a 7:37 p.m. ET first pitch – the only night game of the three-game series. Toronto is getting New York at a great time because Yankees superstar and three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge is sidelined with a stress fracture in a rib that may keep him out until after the All-Star break. And co-ace pitcher Max Fried, who was an early-season favourite for the AL Cy Young, is also on the injured list.
But the Yankees have hardly folded with all those injuries as they enter on a four-game winning streak and tied atop the AL East with Tampa Bay. Toronto is third, nine games back. It catches another break in this series in that it won’t face Gerrit Cole, the 2023 AL Cy Young winner. But young righty Cam Schlittler is scheduled for Saturday and is the current +170 AL Cy favourite.
These clubs split four games at Yankee Stadium from May 18-21 and won’t see each other again until mid-August also at Rogers Centre. Toronto was 8-1 at home in the 2025 series.
New York Yankees
New York is not whole with starting catcher Austin Wells and DH Giancarlo Stanton on the Injured list. Stanton is close to a return but apparently not this weekend. The Yankees enter off an impressive three-game sweep in Cleveland to open the week.
Former NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt had a big series, and he has really picked up the slack this month for the injured Aaron Judge, batting .375 with two homers and nine RBIs. The Yankees have had five of their past seven games and 14 of their past 21 decided by two runs or fewer.
It’s lefty Ryan Weathers (2-4, 3.86 ERA) scheduled on the mound Friday. The 26-year-old was available in relief if needed Wednesday because New York was short-handed and if Weathers had pitched then he surely would not here. But Weathers was not needed. He took a no-decision at Yankee Stadium on May 18 vs. the Blue Jays, allowing five runs and seven hits over 5.1 innings – one of his shorter starts of the year. George Springer and Ernie Clement both homered off him.
Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto is 3-3 on this nine-game homestand after losing 7-4 vs. the Phillies on Wednesday in Max Scherzer’s return from the IL and it didn’t go well. The future Hall of Famer looks done. Outfielder Daulton Varsho didn’t start for a fifth straight game Wednesday with a wrist issue.
There’s a good chance that No. 1 catcher Alejandro Kirk (thumb) is activated off the 60-day IL ahead of Friday’s game. To help protect Kirk’s health, there could be games where good-looking rookie Brandon Valenzuela starts at catcher and Kirk at designated hitter, but that would necessitate George Springer moving from DH to an outfield spot. Springer last played the outfield on Sept. 24, 2025.
Rookie righty Trey Yesavage (2-3, 3.16 ERA) is scheduled on the mound. Perhaps the 22-year-old has hit a bit of a wall winless in three straight games. Yesavage’s win was May 20 at Yankee Stadium when he threw six shutout innings with two hits allowed, eight strikeouts and no walks. He has been better away (1-1, 1.71 ERA) than at home (1-2, 4.57 ERA). No active Yankee has homered off him.
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