MLB picks 5/22 – Toronto Blue Jays @ Tampa Bay Rays

MLB picks 5/22 – Toronto Blue Jays @ Tampa Bay Rays

The Toronto Blue Jays (25-22) open a 4-game series on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays (34-14) tonight in an AL East divisional battle. Toronto comes into tonight’s game reeling after getting swept by the Baltimore Orioles at home over the weekend and losing 3 of 4 at home to the New York Yankees in the previous series. After Tampa Bay got off to a blazing 13-0 start to the season, Toronto handed them their first loss of the season back on April 14, and won 2 of 3 in that series. Tonight’s starters are Chris Bassitt (5-2, 3.05 ERA) for Toronto and reliever Trevor Kelly (0-1, 7.50 ERA) for Tampa Bay. Kelly is only expected to pitch a limited number of innings and give way to Josh Fleming (0-0, 3.68 ERA) who is expected to work in bulk relief. 

GAME ODDS 

Moneyline: Toronto -106, Tampa Bay -110 

Run Line: Toronto -1.5 (+152), Tampa Bay +1.5 (-184) 

Run Total: over 8.5 (-118)  under 8.5 (-104) 

GAME STORYLINES 

The Toronto Blue Jays came into the season with high expectations after coming off back-to-back 90+ win seasons and possessing one of the top offenses in baseball. Toronto’s recent struggles have dropped them to 25-22 and last place in the ultra-competitive AL East, where every team has a winning record. Leading Toronto’s high-powered offense is shortstop Bo Bichette, who is hitting .320 with 9 homers and 30 RBI, he leads the team in all three categories and is an early candidate for AL MVP. Two-time All-Star first baseman Vlad Guerrero Jr. (.294 7 HR 27 RBI) and third baseman Matt Chapman (.301, 6 HR 24 RBI) are also standouts for Toronto. 

Veteran right-hander Chris Bassitt gets the start for Toronto tonight and is enjoying his best season as a big-leaguer in year 10. Toronto signed Bassitt to a 3-year deal in December and was slated to be the No. 3 or No. 4 starter amongst a strong starting rotation but he has emerged as one of Toronto’s best starters. Bassitt hasn’t allowed a run in 27 innings and has made 7 quality starts (6 innings pitched, allowing 3 runs or fewer) this season. 

The Tampa Bay Rays got off to a historic 13-0 start and have the best hitting and pitching in all of baseball. They’ve outscored teams 290 -166 on the season and have scored at least 8 runs in half (24) of their games. The trio of 22-year-old shortstop Wander Franco (.277, 7 HR 23 RBI), left fielder Randy Arozarena (.304, 10 HR 36 RBI) and first baseman Yandy Diaz (.329, 11 HR 27 RBI) have led Tampa Bay’s offensive assault on the majors. The three of them seem to take turns in determining who the AL MVP frontrunner will be on a weekly basis. Yandy Diaz has established himself as the frontrunner at the moment as he is currently on a 13-game hit streak and cracked 4 homers during that stretch. 

Over the past 12 games, Tampa Bay has hit a bit of a rough stretch as they’ve gone 5-7 and lost 4 of 5 to divisional rivals Baltimore and New York from May 9-13. Baltimore has pulled within 2.5 games of Tampa Bay in the division. Winning the AL East may not be the foregone conclusion that it seemed to be earlier in the season because of how strong the division is. 

THE PICK 

I like getting the best team in baseball at just (-110)..Take Tampa Bay on the moneyline!