The Toronto Blue Jays take on the Kansas City Royals. Check out our MLB odds series for our Blue Jays Royals prediction and pick.
Alek Manoah gets the call for the Blue Jays, while Brad Keller takes the hill for the Royals.
Alek Manoah has a 1.98 ERA. He hasn't allowed more than three runs in any appearance this season. In his most recent outing on June 2 against the White Sox, Manoah pitched seven scoreless innings before giving up three runs in the eighth. He has made very few mistakes this season, boosted by a nasty slider and a lot more late-breaking movement on his array of pitches. Manoah is a dogged competitor who gets upset whenever he allows a run. He pitches like a man who expects to pitch shutouts every time he toes the rubber. He is a legitimate candidate for the American League Cy Young Award, and he is a good reason to take Toronto when you make a Blue Jays Royals prediction based on the current MLB odds. He is the best pitcher on the Blue Jays right now, better than Kevin Gausman, who has struggled in his two most recent starts. Manoah might not maintain his ace-level status, but he is the most dependable starter on the roster at the moment.
Brad Keller has a 4.15 ERA. His first five starts of the season were superb. He had a 1.74 ERA after those five starts, which covered 31 innings. Keller allowed just seven runs in those 31 innings. In his next five starts, encompassing 29 2/3 innings, Keller's ERA has risen over 2.3 runs. In those 29 2/3 innings, Keller has conceded 23 runs, allowing at least four runs in four of those five starts. He needs to turn things around if he is going to change the calculus of a Blue Jays Royals pick.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Blue Jays-Royals MLB odds.
MLB Odds: Blue Jays-Royals Odds
Toronto Blue Jays: -1.5 (-126)
Kansas City Royals: +1.5 (+105)
Over: 8.5 (-108)
Under: 8.5 (-112)
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Why The Blue Jays Could Cover the Spread
Alek Manoah is pitching. That's easily the best reason to roll with Toronto here. Manoah is pitching like a staff ace and a Cy Young candidate. He should definitely be in the top five of every baseball writer's A.L. Cy Young ballot at this point, joining Nestor Cortes and Justin Verlander for sure, probably also Shane McClanahan and Martin Perez. Manoah gets personally insulted when teams score runs against him. He has that alpha-male mentality to go along with vastly improved bite on his assortment of pitches. The Royals coudn't hit Ross Stripling on Monday night, so Manoah should certainly be able to contain Kansas City here on Tuesday night.
Why The Royals Could Cover the Spread
After playing an atrocious game against the Blue Jays on Monday, the Royals get to start fresh on Tuesday. Alek Manoah is tough to go against, but he hasn't had a terrible game yet this season. Even the very best pitchers eventually run into a bad outing. Justin Verlander got smoked by the Mariners just over a week ago. No one predicted that. The laws of averages are about to swing to the Royals.
Final Blue Jays-Royals Prediction & Pick
If Alek Manoah has a bad game, the Jays will lose, and over a long baseball season, great players have bad games … but do you really want to choose this spot for a Manoah letdown? No you don't.
Final Blue Jays-Royals Prediction & Pick: Blue Jays -1.5
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