Toronto’s pitching staff keeps taking injury hits, but a 6-4 stretch has kept the Blue Jays within striking distance of a wild-card spot
Another day goes by, another list of names hits the Toronto Blue Jays’ injury list, despite last night’s big 2-1 win at home over the Boston Red Sox.
That’s too bad, since there are just 42 games left in the season, with the Jays 3.5 games out of that last American League wild-card spot. The Blue Jays still must vault over the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, and Texas Rangers to squeak in.
The good news is they are 6-4 in their last ten, propelled by their starting pitchers.
Last night, it was the newly acquired Jameson Taillon who gave them four innings of one-hit baseball with 3 Ks.
Now we hit the bad news part if you’re betting on Game 2 of the series tonight, or Blue Jays’ futures.
Taillon left the game with right forearm discomfort. This was on the same day as Tre Yesavage was meeting a surgeon about whether to undergo an operation to repair his left knee.
Newly acquired starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti had a setback with the nerve issue in his foot he has been battling.
It’s been that kind of season in Toronto – one step forward, two back, a pitching staff that’s being stretched extremely thin. No word yet on whether Taillon is being placed on the injured list.
Toronto has 13 players officially on the IL, as of today.
That brings us to tonight. Game time at Rogers Centre is 7:07 p.m. EST, with Boston sending Patrick Sandoval to the mound (1-0, 3.38 ERA, 25Ks, 1.67 WHIP) to go up against Cy Young Award candidate Dylan Cease (7-5, 2.28 ERA, 184 Ks, for third in MLB, and a 1.04 WHIP).
In MLB betting at Betway, the Blue Jays are -140, the Red Sox +120. The Runline is Toronto -1.5 (+135), Boston +1.5 (-180), and the Total is 6.5 (Over -140, Under +110).
For me, I am taking Jays’ Moneyline tonight. The Red Sox have lost three straight now. And a huge handicapping point is Cease. That 2.28 ERA makes him a substantial upgrade over what Toronto has been from much of its injury-riddled rotation.
That Moneyline price isn’t prohibitive at all. It’s amazing to me that Cease has just seven wins on the season.
Another angle is Boston Under 1.5 Total Runs in the First 5 Innings (-160). That further isolates the Cease advantage and reduces exposure to a Blue Jays bullpen that had to cover five innings last night after Taillon went down.
I’m also going with Under 6.5 (+110) on the plus-money front. Again, it’s the Cease factor. His game has rocketed north ever since that All-Star game where he struck out the side in one inning. He’s been an American League Pitcher of the Month since then, and with newly acquired Jose Soriano and Yesavage, when he returns (likely in 2027 now), that’s a rock-solid starting three for next season.
A Betway parlay I am leaning on for tonight: Blue Jays to win and Cease 6+ strikeouts (-130).
Another curveball for bettors – ESPN’s Jeff Passan is reporting that the “expectation” is that newly acquired star catcher Adley Rutschman, who’s been on the 10-day IL since Aug. 3 with left wrist inflammation, will make his Red Sox debut tonight. If Passan is reporting it, it’s likely true.
In just 25 ABs as a member of the Baltimore Orioles this season, against the Blue Jays, Rutschman is batting .240, with 8 RBIs, 1 HR, and a .795 OPS.
Last season, in 38 AB, he feasted on Jays’ pitching – 3 HR, 10 RBIs, .289 batting average, .975 OPS.
