MLB Picks 8/2 – Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees

MLB Picks 8/2 – Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees

The Toronto Blue Jays (50-59) open a three-game series on the road against the New York Yankees (65-45) tonight at Yankee Stadium. This is the final series matchup between the American League East rivals. They’ve squared off ten times this season with each team winning five. New York took two of three at Toronto in their previous matchup in late June. 

Toronto is coming off a 10-4 loss at Baltimore on Wednesday afternoon. Baltimore’s highly touted rookie Jackson Holliday – the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft – hit a grand slam in the fifth inning that broke the game open and gave the Orioles an 8-3 lead. Blue Jays rookie left fielder Addison Barger hit a solo homer in the third inning that put Toronto on the board, it was his second homer of the year. Toronto lost three of four in the series at Baltimore.

New York enters tonight’s contest on a roll after a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies, who own the best record in the National League. In Wednesday’s 6-5 series finale win at Philadelphia, slumping third baseman DJ LeMahieu went 2-for-4 with a grand slam and two-run double as he drove in all six Yankee runs. LeMahieu was hitting just .173 with 19 RBI coming into the game. It was New York’s fifth straight win, they took two of three at Boston prior to sweeping the Phillies.

Tonight’s starters are Kevin Gausman (9-8, 4.44 ERA, 117 K’s in 21 starts) for Toronto and Marcus Stroman (7-5, 3.64 ERA, 83 K’s in 21 starts) for New York.

GAME ODDS

Moneyline: Toronto +150,   New York -178

Run Line: Toronto +1.5 (-140),   New York -1.5 (+116)

Run Total: over 9 (-110)   under 9 (-110)

GAME STORYLINES: TORONTO

The Toronto Blue Jays have been one of the biggest disappointments in MLB this season as they enter tonight’s game with a 50-59 record. They now occupy last place in the tough American League East division. Their poor record is perplexing when you consider they’ve averaged 90 wins over the last 3 seasons and are coming off back-to-back postseason appearances with this same group of players.  

A big reason for Toronto’s lack of success this season has been their subpar pitching. Last season, Toronto possessed one of the top pitching staffs in MLB. The four-man starting rotation of Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman and Yusei Kikuchi were arguably the best starting unit in MLB. Toronto’s 3.78 team ERA ranked fourth in baseball, they also ranked among the top 5 in quality starts and strikeouts. This season, Toronto’s ERA has dropped to 4.64 which ranks 28th in MLB as the aforementioned starting pitchers are having down years.

Toronto’s power numbers at the plate are also down due to inconsistent production from George Springer and Dalton Varsho along with injuries to Bo Bichette and Alejandro Kirk. The injury to the two-time All-Star Bichette is particularly damaging when you consider he’s hit 20+ homers in each of the last three seasons and is a career .290 hitter. Bichette has missed 30 games this season due to a recurring right calf injury. He has not played since July 19 and is currently on the 10-day injured list. Bichette is expected to miss the next few weeks with the injury. 

MLB Picks 8/2 – Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees

Superstar Vlad Guerrero Jr. has been one of the few bright spots for Toronto in what is turning out to be a forgettable season. The 25-year-old All-Star is putting together another tremendous season as he’s batting .311 with 21 homers and 70 RBI through 108 games. He leads Toronto in all three categories. Guerrero was named an All-Star for the fourth straight season this year, he was the only player from Toronto that made the team. Guerrero is currently on a 14-game hit streak. He’s hit 7 homers since the All-Star break which leads MLB.

GAME STORYLINES: NEW YORK

After finishing last season with an unexpected 82-80 record – their worst mark since a 76-86 finish in 1992 – and missing the postseason for the first time since 2016, the New York Yankees made immediate changes in the offseason. The biggest change was trading for superstar outfielder Juan Soto. New York gave up five players in exchange for Soto. New York also added left fielder Alex Verdugo and tonight’s starting pitcher Marcus Stroman as free agents.

The 25-year-old Juan Soto has been excellent in his debut season wearing the pinstripes. He’s batting .309 with 27 homers, 77 RBI and an MLB-leading 89 walks through 106 games. Superstar slugger Aaron Judge is also having a stellar season at the plate. Judge is hitting .316 with 39 homers, 99 RBI and 86 walks through 108 games. Judge is the favorite to win the American League MVP award this season. It would be the second of his career. Soto and Judge were voted in as starters in last month’s All-Star game and they’ve carried New York offensively for most of the season.

New York was cruising through the first half of the season behind the power hitting exploits of Judge and Soto, along with Giancarlo Stanton. The Yankees had the best record in baseball at 51-24 in mid-June, but the oft-injured Stanton went down with a hamstring injury on June 18 and New York went into a downward spiral. They lost 14 of their next 18 games as the absence of Stanton exposed the Yankees for not having much hitting outside of Judge and Soto. 

New York’s starting pitching was also abysmal during the late June swoon as starters Luis Gill, Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes were routinely getting hammered when they took the mound. The rookie Gil had a three-game stretch where he gave up 16 earned runs over 9.2 innings. Gil has since reverted back to his early season form when he started the year 9-1. Rodon has given up 2 runs or fewer in three straight starts.

MLB Picks 8/2 – Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees

The return of reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole has also bolstered the pitching staff of late. Cole began the season on the 60-day injured list due to nerve inflammation in his right elbow. He missed the first three months of the season because of the injury and was rusty in his first two starts giving up 8 earned runs over 8 innings. Cole went 3-0 over his next 4 starts giving up just 3 earned runs in those wins. New York won all 4 games that Cole started. 

The Yankees added three players prior to/at the July 30 trade deadline: Marlins outfielder/infielder Jazz Chisolm Jr., along with relievers Al Leiter Jr. and  Enyel De Los Santos. They seemed like ho-hum moves initially, but the addition of Chisolm has ended up being a game changer for the Yankees through the first 4 games. 

Jazz Chisolm Jr. joined the Yankees for their game at Boston on July 28. He went 1-for-5 with a run scored in an 8-2 Yankees win. His next 2 games at Philadelphia were historic as Chisolm homered twice in each game. He became the first Yankee to hit 4 homers in his first 3 games with the team. Chisolm is hitting .368 with 4 homers and 8 RBI in 4 games with the Yankees. 

THE PICK: YANKEES (Run Line)

The Yankees have gone back to looking invincible with the addition of Jazz Chisolm Jr. and the return of slugger Giancarlo Stanton. I don’t see why anything changes tonight with a weak Toronto team coming to the Bronx tonight. Take the Yankees on the run line here!

MLB Picks 8/2 – Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees