Raise your hand if you thought the biggest impact on the Blue Jays’ roster post MLB trade deadline (Aug. 1) would be from within the organization.
That’s what Davis Schneider has accomplished for the team, to the delight of their fans and their backers at Ontario sportsbooks.
Schneider, formerly buried deep in the Jays’ minor-league system, became the first player in MLB history to tally nine hits and two home runs in his first three games over the weekend, helping Toronto sweep Boston in a three-game series at Fenway Park.
Going into the series, the Red Sox were two games back of the Jays in the MLB American League wild card race — that number now sits at five.
Schneider Boosts Toronto Lineup
And Schneider has jacked a lineup that everyone knows struggled all season. Toronto had been sitting among the league dregs like the Kansas City Royals and Oakland A’s when it came to driving in players in scoring position. In Sunday’s 13-1 win, every Blue Jay except for Whit Merrifield and pinch hitter Santiago Espinal had a hit.
George Springer, who broke out of a long hitting slump over the weekend, went 7-for-12 in the Boston series. Matt Chapman went 5-13. Vlad Guerrero Jr. went 2-5 in Friday’s 7-3 win, 0-5 in Saturday’s 5-4 win, and had a day off Sunday.
Ontario sports betting apps might well enjoy a Jays postseason run — DraftKings Sportsbook Ontario has Toronto at -285 odds to make the playoffs as of Monday afternoon (and +240 to miss).
Blue Jays Deadline Moves
At the trade deadline, the Jays chose to address their bullpen, trading for right-handed fireballer Jordan Hicks and lefty reliever Genesis Cabrera. Then after the injury to Bo Bichette, Toronto acquired shortstop Paul DeJong. The team didn’t trade for a big bat, which many expected, choosing to gamble on the current roster breaking out of slumps.
Toronto was “embarrassed” last week by the first place Baltimore Orioles, as Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt described it, losing three in a row at home. But now the Jays seem to be back on track.
Going into a four-game series against the Guardians, which starts tonight in Cleveland, the moneyline at NorthStar Bets Ontario Sportsbook has the Jays 1.76, with the Guardians 2.12. The Guardians are technically still in the wild card race but are 8.5 games out. They’ve lost seven of 10 and are 29-26 at home.
Tonight, the Guardians throw RHP Gavin Williams (1-3, 3.38 ERA, 1.34 WHIP) against the Jays’ Hyun Jin Ryu, in his second start on his road back from Tommy John surgery. In his five innings against the Orioles last week, Ryu allowed four runs on nine hits, but he seemed to come on stronger after a nervous start. Oddsmakers are no doubt focusing on the Jays’ resurgent offence after the Red Sox series.
More notable is where the AL East and World Series odds sit.
Toronto Blue Jays Current Odds
Going into Monday’s games, according to BetMGM Ontario Sportsbook, division odds have the Jays at 13.0, down from 5.5 last week. The Orioles have moved from 2.2 to 1.61, the Tampa Bay Rays from 2.3 to 2.6. The New York Yankees have gone from 36.0 to 151.0, the Red Sox from 41.0 to 151.0.
The Jays’ World Series odds at BetMGM have gone from 17.0 last week to 21.0 today.
