The Toronto Blue Jays took the opener of their series against the Kansas City Royals thanks to another strong starting pitching performance and have now won seven of their last nine games.
Kevin Gausman will try to keep that trend going when he takes the ball in Game 2 at Kauffman Stadium tonight.
Gausman finally looked a little more like his old self in his last start and he’s got his team as road favorites per the MLB odds. Can the Jays’ ace lead Toronto to another win?
Check out my Blue Jays vs. Royals predictions and MLB picks for Tuesday, April 23.
Blue Jays vs Royals prediction
My best bet
Under 4.5 first five innings (-118 at PROLINE+)
My analysis
The Toronto Blue Jays took Game 1 against the Kansas City Royals by a score of 5-3 on the back of another strong performance from Yusei Kikuchi and the red-hot bat of outfielder Daulton Varsho.
Next up is ace Kevin Gausman who is looking to build off his first solid start of the season. Gausman missed much of camp due to injury and he certainly looked rusty during his first three starts.
However, he turned things around last time out, limiting the New York Yankees to one run on four hits while striking out six over five innings of work.
Tonight, he’ll stare across at a Royals lineup that has cooled down a bit after a hot start. Kansas City has plated three runs or fewer in five of its last eight games. The Royals rank 26th in batting average and 24th in OPS and wRC+ during that period.
Kansas City counters Gausman with a veteran right-hander of its own in Michael Wacha. Despite being 32 years old, it feels like he's been in the league forever, which is something that will never cease to amaze me.
It certainly looks like he’s still in his prime. Wacha has looked like a great pickup for the Royals. The right-hander has done an excellent job of limiting hard contact and is pitching to an impressive 3.20 expected ERA.
He’ll face a Blue Jays lineup that has struggled to produce against right-handed pitchers this season. Unless your name is Daulton Varsho or Justin Turner of course. But overall, the Jays rank 24th in batting average, 17th in OPS, and 13th in wRC+ when vs. righties.
All that to say pitching will be the story here early, so we are going back to the well with the first five-inning Under after it cashed for us yesterday.
Blue Jays star player prop
My best bet
Varsho Over 0.5 RBIs (+162 at PROLINE+)
Daulton Varsho can’t be stopped. The Blue Jays outfielder continued his tear last night by hitting his sixth home run in his last 10 games.
And I don’t know who needs to know this but Varsho has the third-highest WAR among all MLB position players this season. Third! In all of baseball! Sorry, my brain is having trouble processing that.
Varsho is hitting .355 with a ridiculous 1.444 OPS over that 10-game stretch. All those dingers have meant RBIs. Varsho has driven in 13 runs during this period and all that production means he’s moved up in the batting order to No. 5 behind the Jays big boppers.
While Wacha has been solid this season, left-handed hitters have done the most damage against him, getting to Wacha for a .256 average and a .714 OPS.
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Blue Jays vs Royals odds
Blue Jays vs Royals live odds
Blue Jays vs Royals opening odds
- Run line: Toronto -1.5 +155 | Kansas City +1.5 -185
- Moneyline: Toronto -125 | Kansas City +105
- Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5
Blue Jays vs Royals spread and Over/Under analysis
- The Blue Jays opened this matchup as -125 road favorites and have bounced back and forth between that and -120.
- This price is a deal on a Kevin Gausman start who was in the -290 range when he took the mound against the Royals last September. This is likely due to Gausman's shaky start and Kansas City's clear improvements.
- The total hit the board at 8.5 and that's where it remains as of early Tuesday afternoon.
- Just like yesterday, this total looks too high for this pitching matchup but the first-five is the play because both bullpens have struggled through the first month of the season.
Blue Jays vs Royals trend
The Under is 5-1-1 in the last seven meetings between the Blue Jays and Royals. Find more MLB betting trends for Blue Jays vs. Royals
Blue Jays vs Royals game info
| Location: | Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO |
| Date: | Tuesday, 4-23-2024 |
| First pitch: | 7:40 p.m. ET |
| TV: | Sportsnet 1, Bally Sports Kansas City |
| Blue Jays starting pitcher: | Kevin Gausman (0-2, 8.16 ERA) |
| Royals starting pitcher: | Michael Wacha (1-2, 3.75 ERA) |
Blue Jays vs Royals latest injuries
Blue Jays vs Royals weather
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