The First Pitch Coming Friday in Toronto
PLAY BALL! TORONTO BLUE JAYS SEASON OPENER VS. TEXAS RANGERS
Major League Baseball's first pitch gets thrown out on Thursday, with seven games to open the new 2022 season.
Then on Friday, many eyes will be on the game in the Rogers Center where the hometown Blue Jays play hosts to the visiting Texas Rangers.
Toronto has suddenly become the trendy favourite to win the AL pennant this year. The soaring Jays are projected to win 93 games and are co-favoured to win the AL East (at +170), along with the rival NY Yankees. The odds at Spreads.ca (and many other betting sites) show the rising Blue Jays as ranked behind only the NL's Dodgers to win the World Series. Currently, Toronto is at +850. Most bettors think the Blue Jays are a solid pick to make the playoffs, as that prospect is listed at -350. Indeed, Toronto looks absolutely loaded, especially on offense. Those bats are going to score lots of runs, and this opening series (Fri.-Sat.-Sun) versus the outgunned Rangers provides an excellent opportunity to begin the season on a winning streak.
OPINION (Powered by Pointspreads.ca):
The lowly Texas Rangers were one of the AL’s worst teams last year, winning just 60 games. So, this is the perfect punching bag for the Blue Jays.
The big concern is, laying a heavy price on the favourite.
This won't be a popular pick with Canadian sports bettors and could catch heat from Blue Jays fans, but given this huge disparity between these two teams, there's clearly some value in taking the Rangers at a longshot price.
Key Stat: Pitcher Jon Gray is expected to start for the Rangers, and although he has only faced Toronto only twice, he is 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA. So, crazy as it seems, Texas is probably the value play in the opener.
The opening pitch is Friday at 7 pm EST.
