Blue Jays vs. Twins Thursday Prediction
The Twins have struggled to beat the Blue Jays in Minnesota but did pick up a win last night. Will they salvage a series split with Toronto when these teams wrap up their series at 1:10 p.m. ET on Thursday?
Game Snapshot & Odds
963 Toronto Blue Jays (+160) at 964 Minnesota Twins (-182); 8.5 runs
Thursday, April 18, 2019
1:10 p.m. ET, Target Field, Minneapolis, MN
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Public Betting Trends
According to our MLB Public Betting Chart page, 51% of the betting tickets are on the Twins to beat the Blue Jays on the moneyline.
Toronto Blue Jays Fantasy Spin
Rowdy Tellez went 0-for-4 and struck out twice against the Twins on Wednesday. Tellez has whiffed in 11 straight games, and he’s down to .194 with a 19/4 K/BB ratio in 49 plate appearances this season. He shouldn’t be in any danger of being demoted at the moment, but he can’t afford a prolonged slump at this early stage of his MLB career
Minnesota Twins Fantasy Spin
Nelson Cruz went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a walk against the Blue Jays on Wednesday. Cruz isn’t hitting the ball quite as hard as usual this year, but he has a nice .313/.476/.500 line after 11 games. It doesn’t seem all that likely that he’ll get to 37 homers for a sixth straight year.
MLB Betting Trends
Toronto
The Blue Jays are 55-26 in their last 81 games against the Twins.
Minnesota
The Twins are just 13-28 in their last 41 home games against the Blue Jays despite beating Toronto last night at Target Field.
Prediction:
While it’s only three starts, Michael Pineda has pitched well for the Twins. His 3.49 SIERA is in line with his 3.00 ERA and he has excelled by striking batters out (26.3% K rate) and not issuing free passes (3.5% BB rate). Opposing batters are hitting him hard (42.5% hard contact rate) but the Blue Jays were held to just one run last night despite having a decent matchup against Jake Odorizzi. On the other side, Clay Buchholz keeps finding a way to be competitive but he too allows plenty of hard contact (45.0%) and he’s due for regression seeing as how his 4.41 SIERA doesn’t match his 1.50 ERA. I expect Pineda to pitch well and for Minnesota’s bats to come alive versus Buchholz, thus making the Twins’ runline the best play on the board.
The Pick: Minnesota Twins -1.5 (+105)