A rare inter-league matchup is on tap as the Toronto Blue Jays travel south of the border to take on the Milwaukee Brewers. Join us for our MLB odds series, where our Blue Jays-Brewers prediction and pick will be unveiled.
After defeating the White Sox 9-5 on Wednesday, the Blue Jays improved to 39-30 and have sole position of second place in the AL East. Trying to continue his stellar start to the campaign will be RHP Alek Manoah, who is 8-2 on the year with a fabulous fifth-best in the majors 2.00 ERA.
With a similar record as the Blue Jays at 40-32, the Brewers are in a dead-even race with the Cardinals for first place in the NL Central. After splitting with St. Louis by defeating their rivals 6-4 yesterday, the Brewers will look for two in a row as righty Adrian Houser will be called upon to face off with Toronto. Houser is 4-7 with a 4.24 ERA on the season.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Blue Jays-Brewers MLB odds.
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A couple of months into the 2022 regular season, it appears that the Blue Jays are finally hitting their stride as we approach the month of June. Yes, they may have lost six out of their last eight games, but Toronto has still been able to hold off Boston and Tampa Bay in the standings while improving their overall play since coming out of the gate slowly.
Coming into the season, many baseball analysts and experts predicted that Toronto would have as lethal of a lineup that anyone in the league. Fast forward a few months later, and the ‘Jays are finally living up to that expectation.
Through 69 games, Toronto has the tenth most runs in the entire league with 323 and is hitting at a .255 clip. While a slow start definitely humbled this group, the whole lineup is starting to get into mid-season form. With an MLB-best OPS of .863 in the last 30 days, the Blue Jays are no longer messing around.
On the hill, Toronto has acquired 31 quality starts from starters which have been a testament to how effective this staff has been pitching deep into games. Credit the sensational Alek Manoah for leading this unit by example, as the 24-year-old in only his second season has been one of baseball’s best twirlers. Additionally, Manoah ranks among the top 2% major league pitchers in hard-hit percentage and should be a big reason why the Blue Jays can silence Milwaukee’s bats in game one of this series.
Consistency is key, and that is exactly what the Brewers have shown they can be in 2022. Reigning at the top of their division for the majority of the first couple months of the regular season, Milwaukee’s strong suit has been their ability to shut teams down in the later stages of games.
The bullpen is considered one of the best in all of baseball, so if Houser can survive at least five innings, it will be a challenge for even an offense like Toronto’s to cross the plate. With closer Josh Hader acting as the anchor in the 9th inning, the key in getting a spread-covering win will be to jump out to an early lead and have the bullpen take care of the rest.
The Brew Crew has been streaky at times at the dish, and even though they have generated 313 runs on the year, they have struggled mightily to string together hits. Milwaukee is ranked 25th in the majors in batting average with a lowly .232 mark.
Nevertheless, this offensive lineup will be facing off with a Toronto bullpen that has a collected 4.41 ERA on the year. Don’t be shocked if Milwaukee can put up a crooked number against the Blue Jays pen, as this could end up being the difference in the game.
Toronto is averaging a whopping 6.41 runs per game since May 24th and there is no sign of slowing down. Against a pitcher like Houser who has scuffled of late, the Blue Jays have a perfect opportunity to explode at the plate. Surprisingly, the Brewers are 2-8 in their last ten games at home while Toronto has won 10 of their last 14 away from Canada. With Manoah also in line for the start, the Blue Jays are the wise pick here.
Final Blue Jays-Brewers Pick: Blue Jays -1.5 (+110)
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