Blue Jays vs Yankees Picks: Cy Young Contenders Clash

Can you feel it? The crisp spring air, the green grass, the fresh dirt, the crack of the bat. Yes, my friends, baseball betting is back, and we get a doozy of a matchup to open the 2021 MLB season.

The Evil Empire returns as the New York Yankees are the betting favorites to win the American League, but they’ll be in tough on Opening Day against AL East rival the Toronto Blue Jays, a team looking to crash the contender party this season.

Check out our MLB free picks and predictions for Blue Jays vs. Yankees on Thursday, April 1, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET.

Blue Jays vs Yankees odds

MLB sharp money and line movement report

By Patrick Everson

FanDuel opened the Pinstripes a -188 favorite Tuesday afternoon, got to -200 Wednesday morning, bottomed out at -168 this morning and is back at -200 at noon ET. It's all New York on the moneyline, at 88 percent of tickets/92 percent of cash. The total bounced between 8 and 7.5 several times and is now 7.5 (Over -122), with 55 percent of bets on the Over and 54 percent of money on the Under.

Check out the full line movement for this game

Blue Jays vs Yankees betting preview

Starting pitchers

Hyun Jin Ryu (2020: 5-2, 2.69 ERA): While everyone's last memory of Ryu was getting rocked by the Rays in the postseason, the lefty had an excellent mini first season in Toronto. Well, not actually in Toronto, but you get it. Ryu finished third in AL Cy Young voting thanks to an excellent WHIP, opponent batting average and a Ks per nine inning rate that matched his career-best. If he can stay healthy he should be in the Cy Young conversation once again.

Gerrit Cole (2020: 7-3, 2.84 ERA): Speaking of the Cy Young, it’s kind of crazy to think that Gerrit Cole has never won the award, but the Bronx Bombers’ ace will do his best to remedy that this season. Cole had his ups-and-downs in his first season in pinstripes. One of the downs was his strikeouts per nine innings, but he finished the regular season strong and continued to pitch well in the postseason. Cole will look to carry that momentum into 2021.

Weather

Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.

Key injuries

Blue Jays: Rafael Dolis RP (Probable), George Springer CF (Doubtful).
Yankees: Aaron Judge RF (Questionable), Miguel Andujar LF (Out), Luke Voit 1B (Out), Zack Britton RP (Out), Aroldis Chapman RP (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.

Betting trend to know

The Over is 5-0 in the Blue Jays' last five games against a right-handed starter, and 6-1 in the last seven meetings between the Jays and Yankees. Find more MLB betting trends for Blue Jays vs. Yankees.

Moneyline pick

In the shortened 2020 season, both the Yankees and Blue Jays qualified for the postseason as wild card teams, while the Rays somewhat surprisingly took home the division crown. But make no mistake, this is the Evil Empire’s division to lose this season.

The Yankees are the -190 favorites in the AL East betting odds, but thanks to some offseason maneuvers, it is the Blue Jays with the next best odds at +333.

Unfortunately, it’s sounding like the Jays’ big offseason acquisition, CF George Springer, won’t be ready for Opening Day with an oblique injury. But that doesn’t mean the Jays lineup won’t be potent in this matchup.

Toronto also brought in Marcus Semien to go along with youngsters Vladdy Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio and Teoscar Hernandez. The lineup is deep, balanced and should be a problem for pitchers all season long.

They start the season against one of the best in Gerrit Cole. While Cole had some up-and-down results in 2021, he closed the season with a 2.06 ERA and a 0.69 WHIP over his last seven starts including the postseason. 

Of course, the Yankees boast arguably the best lineup in baseball and if they can manage to stay healthy, don’t be shocked if they push to break the single-season home run record this season.

But the Blue Jays might not be the only ones missing some bats in this matchup. Aaron Judge is questionable to play and Luke Voit will be out for a couple of weeks. On top of that, relievers Aroldis Chapman and Zack Britton won’t be available either.

The Yankees are big favorites in this matchup because of Cole, the lineup and the fact they are such a public team the term “Yankee Tax” is named after them. But these starters are close to a wash, and if there is a team that can match the Bronx Bombers’ lineup batter-for-batter it might be the Jays this season. 

With both bullpens also entering Opening Day with some question marks, it’s hard not to like the value with the underdog Blue Jays.

PREDICTION: Blue Jays (+160)

Over/Under pick

While this is a matchup of two great aces in Cole and Ryu, this number may be a tad too low for the Opening Day game.

Ryu had mixed results against the Yankees last season. In his first matchup against the Yanks, the lefty lasted just five innings allowing five runs on six hits, three of which were dingers. But he followed that up a few weeks later by shutting them out on five hits over seven innings.

When Ryu does have to hand the ball off there will be some questions. The Jays were dealt a blow when closer Kirby Yates went down for the year with Tommy John. Toronto will have to get creative and see what will work at the backend. That means this dangerous Yankees’ lineup should get their fair share of chances. 

While Cole has performed well against the Jays in the past, just like the Yanks, there are no breaks in this lineup, even with Springer out. This one may not fly over the total, but these lineups are talented and deep enough to get above this number.

PREDICTION: Over 7.5 (-110)

Blue Jays vs Yankees betting card

• Blue Jays (+160)
• Over 7.5 (-110)

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