The Toronto Blue Jays bounced back with two series wins over the past week, taking two of three games from the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds.
After a rough stretch of losses before that, the Jays needed to find some success and get some momentum going in their two home series against a couple of lower-ranking opponents, and that is exactly what they did.
The Blue Jays are currently +1000 to win the World Series this year in Ontario sports betting, showing oddsmakers clearly believe they can continue their winning ways from the past seven days.
Leading the way in that market are the Los Angeles Dodgers at +450 and the Blue Jays AL East rival New York Yankees at +550, according to DraftKings Sportsbook Ontario. The Jays odds place them fifth, a drop from earlier in the season when they were the second favorite behind the Dodgers.
The Yankees are also favored to win the AL East at -240 and Toronto trails them at odds of +350 on DraftKings, which launched in Ontario last week. The Jays trail the Yankees in the standings by seven games.
Updated World Series Odds
Blue Jays Offense Still Sputtering
Surprisingly, it’s been the pitching of the Blue Jays leading the way as their promising offense has sputtered over the past month. Toronto was near the league lead in home runs early in the year but that has fallen off recently and is now middle of the pack. The Jays have 41 home runs, ranking 12th in the league.
The other offensive rankings are similar or worse, leaving the Jays with a middling to below average offense overall. Vladimir Guerrero and George Springer remain stuck at seven home runs for the year, leading the Jays but ranking 31st in the league.
Bo Bichette stepped up in the series against Cincinnati, belting two home runs in their win Saturday to bring his total to six on the year.
Blue Jays Pitching Comes Through
As mentioned, the pitching has been the story — as it usually is when the wins come by scores of 6-2, 3-0, 2-1 and 3-1. Alek Manoah continues to lead the rotation and his 1.64 ERA has him fourth in the league. Kevin Gausman has also kept up his good starts, and perhaps most important has been the pitching of Hyun Jin Ryu.
Ryu struggled mightily to start the season but has been excellent since returning from injury with a scoreless six-hit, three-strikeout performance over six innings in a win Friday. Another Jay near the top of the league is Canadian Jordan Romano. The Jays closer ranks third in the league with 14 saves and has been reliable in the ninth with a lead.
Despite the solid week, Toronto still has a lot of work to do to catch up to the Yankees in the AL East. The schedule is much tougher this week, with six road games against much stronger competition than the Jays faced at home last week.
The Week Ahead for Jays
A two-game series in St Louis starts the week before a travel day as the Jays will head to Los Angeles to face the Angels. The Cardinals are favored slightly in the opening game of the series as they have Miles Mikolas pitching against the Blue Jays' Jose Berrios, who has shown flashes of brilliance but also inconsistency this season.
Ontario bettors can find the Jays at -105 on the moneyline in this opening game. Kevin Gausman should take the mound in the second of two games before the rest of the rotation gets a game against the Angels and their stars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.
If Toronto is to have success this week, the offense is going to have to step up and give the pitchers some help. The strong outings from the starters have been needed but can’t be counted on night after night and shouldn’t have to be with a lineup as loaded as Toronto’s.
Catching the Yankees in the division will be tough. But another good week for Toronto should put the Jays in good position to move up the odds board on Ontario sports betting apps.
