The Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees are known for their big bats but in Game 1 of this four-game set in the Bronx, it was the pitchers who made the most noise, with the Jays taking the opener 3-0.
How will the bats respond in Game 2 when Yusei Kikuchi makes his Blue Jays debut as he toes the rubber against always entertaining Nestor Cortes? And will the Under continue to be a sneaky good bet when these AL East rivals meet?
Find out with our free MLB betting picks and predictions for Blue Jays vs. Yankees on Tuesday, April 12.
Editor's note: Ontario! Welcome to the world of regulated sports betting. Visit our Ontario sports betting page for the best legal betting sites available to you and all the information you need about this emerging industry.
Blue Jays vs Yankees odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
The Blue Jays opened this AL East matchup as about an even-money underdog and have gotten as high as +105 but remain near the opening number as of Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile, the total hit the board at even 10 and has been bet down to 9.5 with the juice still favoring the Under.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full MLB odds before placing your bets.
Blue Jays vs Yankees predictions
- Prediction: Blue Jays ML (+105)
- Prediction: Under 9.5 (-115)
- Best bet: Kikuchi Over 4.5 strikeouts (-120)
Picks made on 4/12/2022 at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
If you're signing up for a new sportsbook for the 2022 MLB season, here are two of the best bonuses* available:
A) New users can bet $20 and get $200 in free bets with Caesars! Sign Up Now
B) New users can get two risk-free bets up to $2,000 at PointsBet! Sign Up Now
*Eligible USA locations only
Blue Jays vs Yankees game info
• Location: Yankee Stadium, New York, NY
• Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2022
• First pitch: 7:05 p.m. ET
• TV: Sportsnet, YES
Blue Jays vs Yankees betting preview
Starting pitchers
Yusei Kikuchi (2021: 7-9, 4.41 ERA): Kikuchi makes his Blue Jays debut a year after being named an All-Star in Seattle. But after posting a 3.48 ERA in the first half of the season, that number ballooned to 5.98 in the second half. The Jays are hoping Pete Walker can work his magic with another lefty.
Nestor Cortes (2-3, 2.90 ERA): Cortes is coming off a career year with the Yankees where he regularly changed his delivery to mess with a hitter’s timing. As a starter, Cortes pitched to a 3.03 ERA while limiting opponents to a .223 batting average.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
Blue Jays: Danny Jansen C (Out).
Yankees: No key injuries to report.
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Under is 9-2 in the last 11 meetings between these two teams when playing at Yankee Stadium. Find more MLB betting trends for Blue Jays vs. Yankees.
Blue Jays vs Yankees picks and predictions
Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.
Moneyline analysis
The Blue Jays took the opener of this series 3-0 thanks to an outstanding performance from Alek Manoah. The Jays starter threw six shutout innings, allowing just one hit and fanning seven.
That’s been a common theme for the Yankees early on this season as the Bronx Bombers are hitting just .214 as a team and just .164 with runners on base. So, will they be able to get to Kikuchi in this one?
Well, Jays fans are hoping that pitching coach Pete Walker can work the same magic that he did with Robbie Ray last season and to a lesser extent Steven Matz. While Kikuchi was an All-Star in Seattle in 2021, he saw a steep decline in the second half of 2021. And generally, his number since coming over from Japan has been mediocre with a 4.97 ERA and 1.40 WHIP.
But he does have a fastball that averaged 95.1 miles per hour last season limiting opponents to a .209 batting average on that pitch. If he works out some issues with his cutter and can locate his slider a little better don’t be surprised if you see some improvements from the southpaw.
Speaking of southpaws, the Yankees counter with one of their own in Cortes. The lefty who loves to mess with a hitter’s timing is coming off a career year, but this matchup with the Blue Jays is a tough one.
Last night Jameson Taillon did a decent job of keeping the Jays bats quiet, except for George Springer, Teoscar Hernandez, and Santiago Espinal who combined for nine hits. That’s the problem with this Jays lineup, if it’s not one of the big boppers like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Bo Bichette, it could just as easily be someone else.
Back to Cortes. The lefty did a decent job of creating soft contact, but he got absolutely killed in the first pitch of at-bats. Cortes gave up a .353 batting average and 1.107 OPS in the first pitch of an at-bat last season and the Blue Jays are notorious for jumping on first pitches.
While the starters and bullpens are close to a wash, the Jays just have the deeper lineup right now, and getting them at better than even money looks like good value in this matchup.
Prediction: Blue Jays moneyline (+105 at DraftKings)
Over/Under analysis
When it comes to the total these AL East rivals continue to play tight games. After last night’s 3-0 victory for the Jays, it was the ninth time in the last 11 games they have faced off in Yankee Stadium where the Under has cashed. And the early money is backing it to happen again.
Now, both of these offenses will finish the season as two of the best in baseball. Unfortunately, the Yankees are still trying to find their timing and are struggling to advance runners once they get on base, plating just 3.3 runs per game this season. The Yanks also had mixed results against Kikuchi last season.
In a July 7 start, they got to him for five runs on eight hits in five innings but the lefty responded by allowing just four hits over five shutout innings on August 8, with the latter coming at Yankee Stadium.
Meanwhile, Cortes also had some success against the Jays. In his lone start against them last season he allowed two runs on six hits over six innings of work.
Mix in two capable bullpens and this full-game total feels a touch too high.
Prediction: Under 9.5 (-115 at DraftKings)
Best bet
For our best bet today, we’re betting we see some early benefits of working with Pete Walker and taking Kikuchi to go Over his strikeout prop of 4.5.
As noted, the lefty has a live fastball that can run in and make right-handers uncomfortable. On top of that, Kikuchi already struck out 9.3 batters per nine innings last season and now faces a Yankees lineup that is striking out 9.5 times per game so far in 2022. That ranks 24th in the MLB.
Kikuchi also had five or more strikeouts in both starts he made against the Yankees last season and if he gets through five innings against an offense that is having trouble generating runs, he'll eclipse this number.
Pick: Yusei Kikuchi Over 4.5 strikeout (-120)
