Category: MLB

The New York Yankees (1-0) face the San Francisco Giants, who are 0-1 after losing their first game of the series on Opening Night. Starting pitchers are second-year pitcher Cam Schlittler for the Yankees, who posted a 2.96 ERA as a rookie, and Robbie Ray for the Giants, with a 3.65 ERA in 2025. The Yankees are favored with a moneyline of -130 at BetMGM.

How to watch New York Yankees vs. San Francisco Giants

• Date: Friday, March 27

• Time: 4:35 p.m. ET / 1:35 p.m. PT

• Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, CA

• TV channel: ESPN Unlimited, MLB.TV (Local broadcasts: NBC Sports Bay Area, Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network)

• Live stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• New York Yankees: 1-0 (#3 in AL East)

• San Francisco Giants: 0-1 (#5 in NL West)

Odds

• Point spread: New York Yankees -1.5

• Moneyline: New York Yankees -130, San Francisco Giants +110

• Over/Under: 8.0 (Over -120, Under +100)

Starting pitchers

• New York Yankees: Cam Schlittler (2025 stats: 4-3, ERA: 2.96, K: 84, WHIP: 1.22, BB: 31)

• San Francisco Giants: Robbie Ray (2025 stats: 11-8, ERA: 3.65, K: 186, WHIP: 1.21, BB: 73)

Weather: 71°F at first pitch

“If you can’t beat them, join them.“ Or, in this case, have them join you.

In a move that is not quite as dramatic as someone like Roger Clemens eventually making his way from Boston stardom to the Bronx, the Yankees recently signed right-handed pitcher Luis Garcia to a minor-league deal. And if you were wondering? Yes, it’s that Luis Garcia, the former Houston Astro — the man whose windup kind of makes me seasick even while sitting on the couch, but that’s a conversation for another time.

A pretty successful starter for the Astros in 2021 and 2022, Garcia ascended alongside other young arms who rose to prominence in the post-sign-stealing-scheme environment, like Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier. He had a 3.60 ERA with 324 strikeouts in 312.2 innings for the back-to-back American League champions, winning a ring in ’22.

It’s been a tough road for Garcia since then, as he’s dealt with one scarily large injury bug over the past few years, limiting the righty to just 34.2 innings since the start of 2023. It’ll be a while before Garcia can suit up in the Yankees minor-league system, reserving the entirety of this 2026 campaign for his recovery from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent at the end of last season. Alarmingly, it was Garcia’s second TJS in a rather short period, as his first came in May 2023.

If you remove the health aspect, there were never a ton of performance-related concerns around the now-29-year-old Garcia, as he delivered some productive seasons for the Astros. At the same time, two major surgeries in the span of three years put his career in jeopardy. If the Yankees can rehabilitate him, there might be a solid pitcher in here.

The dominant storyline regarding the Mets all offseason was about the roster turnover. If you look up and down yesterday’s Opening Day lineup, about half of the players in it are new faces, most of whom weren’t even in the organization last season. Yesterday’s 11-7 victory over the Pirates in which the Mets got the best of one of the premiere aces in the game was a total team effort that included contributions from nearly all of these new Mets.

For starters, the pitcher that took the mound to ring in the season in front of the Citi Field faithful was one of those new players. Freddy Peralta’s performance wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to earn him his first win in a Mets uniform. After giving up the two-run homer to Brandon Lowe in the first, he bounced back to strike out the next three batters and ended up racking up seven strikeouts in total. Other than the mistakes Peralta made to Lowe, who either simply had Peralta’s number or is about to enter a new era of dominance as a Pittsburgh Pirate, he had a strong Mets debut.

The Mets were able to erase the deficit created by the Lowe two-run homer yielded by Peralta and then some in the bottom of the first, which became a marathon rally that knocked Paul Skenes out of the game with just two outs in the first. The newcomers in the Mets’ lineup were huge contributors to this rally. Bo Bichette plated the Mets’ first run of 2026 with a sacrifice fly. Jorge Polanco then singled and Luis Robert Jr. worked an 11-pitch walk—one of the key at-bats in the inning because of the bases-clearing triple that followed.

Though of course the sun played a role, Marcus Semien gets credit for a double and an RBI in the inning all the same. Both Robert and Semien would go on to have a multi-hit game. Robert notched RBI knocks in both the fourth and fifth innings, the latter being a slow grounder that he beat out with his speed for an infield hit. In his very first game as a Met, Robert showed why the Mets traded for him (and why they have been trying to do so for years now). His skills on both side of the ball were on full display, as he made a diving catch in center to end the third inning as well. In fact, for all the hemming and hawing about players learning new positions, the Mets played a solid game defensively. The Mets’ new infield contingent made all of the plays—fundies that would have made Keith Hernandez proud if this game had been broadcast on SNY.

It is fitting that Freddy Peralta was followed in the game by Tobias Myers, who came with him in the trade from the Brewers. Myers gave up a solo homer to Ryan O’Hearn and nothing else over three strong innings of work, demonstrating right away the value he provides as a long man in the bullpen—a role the Mets have not had consistently filled for quite some time now.

The only new addition whose day did not quite go as well was Luis Garcia, who was tasked with protecting a six-run lead in the ninth inning. With how Myers was cruising it seemed like he might finish the game, but it seems like the Mets opted to save his bullets and turn to Garcia instead with the more comfortable lead. Garcia was shaky in the ninth, but ultimately got through it with the lead in tact. Overall, yesterday was still a very good day for the new look Mets.

Of course, not all 162 games of this long season are going to look like this—“a near perfectly executed offensive inning,” as Howie Rose described the first-inning rally in what turned out to be a near perfectly executed game all around. There are going to be bad moments where it feels like the team isn’t gelling. But you can see David Stearns’ vision for the Mets within yesterday’s win—a microcosm of what he wants this next Mets era to look like. Some of these new faces, like Bo Bichette, who has an opt-out after this season, may be fleeting pieces as this Mets puzzle comes together. Others, like Freddy Peralta, with whom the Mets are still negotiating on a potential extension, may end up staying awhile. We have a lot of season left to see if this new group has the secret sauce of a championship club. But yesterday was a good start.

Kansas City has a favorable April schedule and needs to take advantage

The schedule to begin 2026 is a bit of a gift for a Royals team that has not gotten off to the strongest starts historically. Last year’s team made it to the end of April at 16-15 and even stayed above .500 through May before having one of the most atrocious months I have ever seen in June, which ended up being too much to overcome in the end. This year, the MLB schedule makers have deigned to give the Royals an early season scheduling gift. Here are the series that they will play through April:

• 3 games at Atlanta Braves
• 3 games vs. Minnesota Twins
• 3 games vs. Milwaukee Brewers
• 3 games at Cleveland Guardians
• 4 games vs. Chicago White Sox
• 3 games at Detroit Tigers
• 3 games at New York Yankees
• 3 games vs. Baltimore Orioles
• 3 games vs. Los Angeles Angels
• 3 games at Athletics

Outside of the nine-game stretch at Detroit, at New York, and home for Baltimore, the other opponents are all fine-to-bad. Milwaukee has a habit of being quite good, but they are projected for a win total in the low 80s. Atlanta is currently missing Sean Murphy, Ha-Seong Kim, Spencer Strider, and several other players right now and is quite vulnerable. Minnesota was gutted last year and only has starting pitching to lean on. There are a lot of opportunities to pick up early wins, and maybe more importantly for this team, early confidence.

The Yankees, Brewers, Braves, Orioles, and Tigers are projected to have winning records, but the Braves are not at full strength. That means half of the teams faced are projected below five hundred and they are projected to be further below .500 than the first five are projected to be above. The projected weighted average win percentage for these 31 games is just .493 helped out by that bonus fourth game against the White Sox. Of the 31 games, 16 are at home and 15 on the road, giving the Royals a slight advantage in their ballpark with new dimensions to fit them.

Getting off to a good start can be huge for this team. They have a chance to get the momentum early in a winnable division. There is only the one short stretch of nine games against Detroit, New York, and Baltimore where the goal would be to win four out of nine, and you would be happy not to have dropped more. The rest of those are all series you should feel like you can win, and it is a matter of banking as many of those as possible. Something like an 18-13 start looks very possible, which would be a nice step toward a successful season.

That would not be enough to guarantee anything over a long season, but for a team like this, it could make a huge difference.

The Los Angeles Dodgers won a World Series title in the abbreviated 2020 season, doing so with the likes of Clayton Kershaw, Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler, Justin Turner, Kenley Jansen, and Corey Seager as key parts of their core.

Every last one of those players is now gone, with all but Kershaw having skipped town long before the 2024 season (when the Dodgers also won a World Series). Kershaw stuck around through the end of the 2025 season before hanging up his spikes for good, and he managed to get a ring as part of the 2025 World Series champion Dodgers, too.

The Dodgers franchise has become an absolute juggernaut, the latest iteration of an Evil Empire that Major League Baseball has so often featured during its glory days. With a trio of titles over the last six seasons, they have seized ownership of the league from the likes of the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and San Francisco Giants, staking claim as the behemoth on every single team’s schedule. And if they continue to have their way with the league this season, it’ll be a three-peat for them come October.

So, it’s not at all surprising that a significant plurality of MLB fans in the latest MLB Reacts poll think it’s the Dodgers who will win the 2026 World Series, too, putting together a three-peat on the backs of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, & Co.

It only took two games for the Dodgers to dispatch the upstart Cincinnati Reds in the first round of last year’s playoffs, an amount of time that makes it hard to even remember the Reds participating on that grand stage. And while the Reds went out and acquired Eugenio Suárez to bolster their offense and can now lean into Sal Stewart for a full season, the Reds face a mountain to climb to even get the chance to take down the Dodgers again at the end of this season.

In fact, the Reds aren’t even on the shortlist of likeliest suitors to tackle the Dodger dynasty. That honor goes to the Toronto Blue Jays, who battled the Dodgers to a scintillating Game 7 just last fall before ultimately dropping the series on a dramatic Will Smith home run.

At least, that’s according to those who responded to the latest MLB Reacts survey.

The revamped New York Mets, a Philadelphia Phillies club reunited with Kyle Schwarber, and a Chicago Cubs club that splurged big to sign Alex Bregman stand as the top competition from the National League side, according to the survey.

The Cincinnati Reds were not among the top contenders to take down the Dodgers, per survey results.

Hunter Brown was strong in his Opening Day start, but only lasted 4.2 IP due to his high pitch count following 4 walks and 9 strikeouts. A.J. Blubaugh then pitched 2.1 IP in relief, likely giving us a look at how the Astros intend to use their bullpen.

You can call the rule dumb. You can call the rule outdated. However, the rule was properly called on a play that cost Yordan Alvarez a first inning home run because his towering blast hit the roof scaffolding at Daikin Park.

They did walk 6 times, so there’s that. However the offensive slumber from spring continued to Opening Day.

Chandler Rome addresses what is still wrong with the Astros’ offense, and 9 prospects to watch this season:

Isaac Paredes got in the game at 1B yesterday:

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There are eight games on the diamond today, and I’ve got a trio of MLB player props to cover you through the night.

My top MLB picks start with Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho, and Los Angeles Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel rounds out the betting card for Friday, March 27.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Daulton Varsho	Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI	-135
Heriberto Hernandez	Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI	-125
Nolan Schanuel	Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI	-105

Daulton Varsho Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI (-130)

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho posted a rock-solid .355 wOBA and .865 OPS against righties last season, and Athletics starter Luis Severino finished the year with a 4.80 xFIP against left-handed hitters.

Varsho has been on a heater during Spring Training, racking up 19 hits, 12 runs, and 14 RBI while posting a mammoth 1.246 OPS across 53 plate appearances.

• Time: 7:07 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MLBN, Sportsnet

Heriberto Hernandez Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI (-125)

Miami Marlins outfielder Heriberto Hernandez posted a .976 OPS this spring after recording a respectable .782 mark against lefties last season.

Hernandez is projected to hit in the middle of the lineup and also draws a favorable matchup against Colorado Rockies southpaw Kyle Freeland tonight.

Freeland has allowed a .361 wOBA to right-handed hitters, posting a 4.98 ERA and 4.78 xFIP over the past three years.

• Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MIAM, COLR

Nolan Schanuel Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI (-105)

Los Angeles Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel went deep in the season opener yesterday, and the 2023 first-round pick projects to return to the middle of the lineup again in a neutral matchup against Houston Astros right-handed pitcher Mike Burrows (career 3.90 ERA and 3.95 xFIP across 99 1/3 MLB innings). 

In addition to being positioned to rack up counting stats, Schanuel has worked on adding bat speed during the offseason. Expect another big performance from the Halos’ youngster at Daikin Park. 

• Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Apple TV

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The Los Angeles Dodgers (1-0) face the Arizona Diamondbacks (0-1) in the second game of their series, with the Dodgers favored by a 1.5-run spread and a moneyline of -250. Starting pitchers are Ryne Nelson for Arizona, who had a 3.39 ERA in 2025, and Emmet Sheehan for Los Angeles, whose 2025 ERA was 2.82.

How to Watch Arizona Diamondbacks vs Los Angeles Dodgers

• Date: Friday, March 27

• Time: 10:10 PM ET / 7:10 PM PT

• Where: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA

• TV Channel: ARID

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team Records

• Arizona Diamondbacks: 0-1 (#3 in NL West)

• Los Angeles Dodgers: 1-0 (#1 in NL West)

Odds via BetMGM

• Spread: Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5

• Moneyline: Los Angeles Dodgers -250 / Arizona Diamondbacks +200

• Over/Under: 8.5

Starting Pitchers

• Arizona Diamondbacks: Ryne Nelson (2025 stats: 7-3, ERA: 3.39, K: 132, WHIP: 1.07, BB: 41)

• Los Angeles Dodgers: Emmet Sheehan (2025 stats: 6-3, ERA: 2.82, K: 89, WHIP: 0.97, BB: 22)

Weather: 72°F at first pitch

Opening Day is often thought of as a beginning for, well, obvious reasons. But, sometimes, I guess it’s an ending as well. Jason Heyward has announced his retirement after a 16-season MLB career:

For many of us, Heyward’s career was a big part of Braves fandom. His hype, amazing first MLB game, and overall awesome rookie season dovetailed with me going from a guy who largely just watched all the games to being really interested in how everything in baseball worked. His Braves tenure overlapped with a resurgence in the team’s fortunes after a few years wandering in the wilderness after the division title streak ended, though he also had to endure the disappointing conclusions to the 2011 and 2014 seasons. And, of course, his trade to the Cardinals heralded the first (and perhaps only, if we’re lucky) demonstrative Atlanta Braves rebuild.

Heyward put up nearly 20 fWAR in his five seasons as a Brave, matching his rookie season’s 4.7 with another 4.7 in his final season pre-trade. His best season actually came immediately after he was dealt to the Cardinals — 5.6 fWAR. He he actually hit better as a rookie, which was his best offensive season overall (134 wRC+). However, his defense didn’t rate highly that year as compared to the next decade-plus of his career, hence the higher overall performace in 2015. His career included five Gold Gloves, an All-Star selection in his rookie season, and a World Series title in 2016 with the Cubs — despite his lackluster performance that year for his third team.

His career descended into more a role player/clubhouse guy vein from 2021-onward, though he did have a nice half-season while outhitting his xwOBA a bunch for the Dodgers in 2023. He’ll now put some of those experiences to work in mentoring the next generation of athletes at his eponymous academy.

Thanks for the memories, Jason Heyward. We’ll always have that amazing debut game against the Cubs in 2010. I know it’s a baseball moment I won’t ever forget.

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Boston Red Sox paid Kristian Campbell early last April because the organization believed in the 2023 fourth-rounder after his meteoric minor league rise. 

His MLB experiment came crashing down after just 11 weeks in the show last season. Campbell struggled defensively at second base and hit just .223 in 67 games. The Red Sox sent him to Triple-A Worcester to reset his environment and allow the young talent to refine his offensive approach and find his defensive strengths.

Entering 2026, Campbell returns to Worcester with a settled field to convince the big league club that he can contribute again at a high level. 

“It’s really comfortable because this is my second time, second season being in that environment,” Campbell said at WooSox Media Day on Thursday. “My first season, I was kind of all over the place between three levels. Last year, I debuted with all new guys. This year I’m with the guys that I was with the very first year again. So I’m really in a comfortable spot to compete, get better, to work on things I need to work on.” 

Part of his growth will include more time in the outfield, an area he gained some minor league experience in before, and where he could excel given the way his Georgia Tech coaches raved about his athleticism. The 23-year-old must find his true home defensively, so he’s more than willing to move around in the best interests of the Red Sox. 

“I really love the outfield,” Campbell said. “Obviously, I don’t really have that much time out there considering I started out in the infield, but being able to play everything. Obviously, I would like to focus on the outfield right now because that’s what I’ve been working on the most. And I really like the outfield to be honest. You know, if they need me or want me to play the infield, I can always go back to it if they want me to. But I like the outfield. So that’s what I’ve been working on the most right now.”

Whether he eventually finds his way as an infielder or outfielder, he finds himself pretty far down the depth chart right now, fighting a roster logjam. With that in mind, Campbell might be a trade candidate. He spoke to the “scary” realities of moving organizations at the trade deadline in 2025. But he stuck around this offseason and can now shift his focus to performing at Polar Park. 

“You don’t really have to worry about anything right now,” Campbell added. “Just worry about competing every day, putting up good at bats, playing good defense, doing the little things right. Whenever the season keeps going, you gotta play all 162 games. You look back and if you do everything right in the beginning, you’re gonna have a good season to look back on.”

Offensively, Campbell ran into trouble when he strayed from his natural profile that ignited his fantastic 2024 run. In 2025, he chased too much. He didn’t pull the ball. He didn’t make enough hard contact. Now, restoring his roots at the plate and on the bases shapes his expectations for 2026. 

“Not trying to do too much, just going back to my hit and running game,” Campbell explained. “Kind of like a throwback to what I did in college and kind of what I did when I first got into the system a couple years ago. Just seeing the ball deep, hitting it, keeping the ball low, not really trying to force too many home runs or try to force too much in general. Just let it happen naturally. Don’t try to force it out or do anything crazy. So just be simple and let the accidents be home runs like I grew up.”

Campbell continued: “That’s pretty much my approach going into it. And I’ve been working on it and trying to get my head around it. But that’s what I want to do. I mean, obviously getting bigger and stronger. You want to show how much power we have sometimes, but sometimes it can play against you. And I feel like it plays against me sometimes when I try to force something to happen versus letting it happen naturally. You know, like three years ago, I wasn’t as big and I wasn’t even trying to hit a home run because I knew I probably couldn’t. So I was always just trying to keep the ball low, get my hits, get my singles and doubles. Really doubles, try to get a bunch of doubles and let the home runs happen if they happen. And I’m just trying to get back to that approach and not try to do too much too fast. That’s the main thing.”

Campbell knows the expectations and the pressure of winning in Boston that will meet him when he eventually finds his way back to the big leagues. He appreciated that aspect of the Red Sox clubhouse the last few weeks in Fort Myers and knows what’s at stake in 2026 and beyond. 

“People take it really serious,” Campbell shared. “Everybody comes to Boston to win. Nobody really comes to Boston to mess around. I feel like I really realized that last year and this year too, that all the guys that came in know what it’s like playing against Boston because they weren’t on the team before. And they take it really serious and they really enjoy being around and being in a new environment. So it’s really easy to connect with them and for them to jump in and be a part of the plan immediately is big. So it’s really exciting and the guys we’ve got, all the new guys we’ve got are really cool. So I’m excited to watch them start this season out strong and watch the team start off strong [on Opening Day]. So yeah, it’ll be fun.”

Campbell and the WooSox start the 2026 season Friday against the Syracuse Mets. 

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cubs fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

Earlier this week in the SB Nation Reacts survey, I asked you to grade Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer’s offseason.

Hoyer made two significant acquisitions, signing free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman and trading for starting pitcher Edward Cabrera. He also added some veteran relievers and upgraded the bench.

The overwhelming majority of voters gave Hoyer at least a “B” grade:

A slight majority, 51 percent, graded Hoyer “B” — but a full 38 percent (myself included) gave him an “A” grade. The rest were split between “C,” “D,” and “F.” Honestly, I don’t understand the failing grade, even if it’s only one percent of all respondents. I’ve never been a big fan of Hoyer but this offseason he clearly upgraded the team.

Yes, we did not see the results too well in Thursday’s opener. Of course, that’s just one of 162 games and every team’s going to have a few clunkers in a long season. The Cubs still can take two of three from the Nationals, and that’s what I called for in the series preview. Do that and they’ll be off to a good start. For one thing, the weather Saturday and Sunday is supposed to be better than Thursday’s windy, cold opener.

Here are the results of the two national survey questions asked this week.

The Dodgers certainly got off to a good start Thursday evening, thrashing the Diamondbacks 8-2. Former Cub Kyle Tucker had his first Dodgers hit and RBI.

The Blue Jays, of course, came within inches of unseating the Dodgers last fall. Toronto has returned a powerful team with strong pitching and they could easily make the World Series again. It’s good to see that at least some fans think the Cubs have a chance to win the World Series this year. That’s what I called for in my season predictions. I’ll stand by that call.

This edition of SB Nation Reacts is sponsored by FanDuel.

The Yankees are taking a shot on a veteran arm, bringing in Luis Garcia on a minor league deal.

The pact is for two years, and is worth a base salary of $2.25M in 2027, according to ESPN's Jorge Castillo.

New York likely won't see Garcia until then, as he is set to miss this entire season working his way back from the second Tommy John surgery of his career.

The 29-year-old completed the long road to recovery for the first time last year, but he was limited to just two Sept. starts with the Astros before returning to the IL with elbow discomfort.

He found himself landing back on the surgery table just two months later.

It's unknown exactly where Garcia is in his recovery at this point.

The right-hander has been a relatively steady middle of the rotation arm when healthy, but he's been limited to just eight big-league games over the past three seasons.

Garcia has pitched to a 3.60 ERA and 1.14 WHIP over his career.

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The Toronto Blue Jays return to the field for the first time since coming as close as a team can to winning the World Series without doing it.

Tonight, they begin their quest for unfinished business when they open the 2026 MLB season at home against the Athletics.

My Blue Jays vs. Athletics predictions and MLB picks are backing the Toronto sticks to pick up right where they left off last season by jumping all over starter Luis Severino. 

A's vs Blue Jays predictions

A's vs Blue Jays best bet: Luis Severino Over 5.5 hits allowed (-110)

The Toronto Blue Jays' lineup became famous during their World Series run for their relentless ability to make contact and frustrate opposing pitchers, and that won’t change on Opening Night.

The Blue Jays led the majors in batting average and were fifth in wRC+ vs. right-handed pitchers last season, with the only big change being Kazuma Okamoto replacing Bo Bichette.

The Athletics hand the ball to right-hander Luis Severino on Friday night. Despite looking good in the WBC, Severino ranked in the 14th percentile in expected batting average. 

The Jays will rack up the hits on Opening Day.

COVERS INTEL: Severino allowed seven hits in just 4 2/3 innings in his lone start against the Blue Jays last season.

A's vs Blue Jays same-game parlay (SGP)

The Blue Jays batter who’s arguably had the most success against Severino is catcher Alejandro Kirk. 

Kirk just sees the ball extremely well out of Severino’s hand. He’s 4-for-6 with six walks in 12 career plate appearances against Severino. That’s good for a .341 expected batting average.

Then let’s look at the newest Blue Jay in Okamoto. The Japanese star was a production monster in the NBP, racking up 827 RBIs. 

He’s projected to be hitting in the six spot in the Jays lineup and should have plenty of opportunities to drive in runs tonight, meaning this price on his RBI is a steal.

A's vs Blue Jays SGP

• Luis Severino Over 5.5 hits allowed
• Alejandro Kirk Over 1.5 total bases
• Kazuma Okamoto Over 0.5 RBIs

A's vs Blue Jays home run pick: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (+425)

While people were wondering about his power during the regular season, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. made everyone forget about that with one of the great postseason runs of all time. 

Vladdy hit eight home runs during the Blue Jays' run to the World Series with a 1.289 OPS.

Guerrero is also a solid 5-for-14 in his career vs. Severino with one home run, good for a .437 expected slugging. So, while it may seem a little on the nose to take Vladdy to go deep in Game 1, I love the value with him in this spot.

A's vs Blue Jays odds

• Moneyline: A's +150 | Toronto -175
• Run line: A's +1.5 (-135) | Toronto -1.5 (+115)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5

A's vs Blue Jays trend

The Blue Jays have hit the Team Total Over in 76 of their last 125 games for +21.35 Units and a 15% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for A's vs. Blue Jays.

How to watch A's vs Blue Jays and game info

A's vs Blue Jays latest injuries

A's vs Blue Jays weather

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Norris, the Opening Day starter for the Astros in their inaugural American League campaign in 2013, shared his thoughts on Houston’s Opening Day starter this year, new staff ace Hunter Brown.

Bud Norris can relate. He had his moment of glory with the Astros as a number one starter in 2013. That day, he’d pave the way for Houston’s inaugural win as a member of the American League. Bud’s excitement bubbled over in a recent conversation with us at the Crawfish Boxes.    

Q:      How special is going out there as the ace of a staff?

A:      It goes without saying, that it’s a huge honor. You can only nominate one guy for Opening Day and there’s only 30 teams in baseball. It’s an opportunity to showcase yourself to your team and the fans. Hunter has earned that. It’s an entire body of work. It’s the years of high school ball, college, the minor leagues, all of that. They all accumulate to that moment and a special day. It’s also about being consistent for 30 starts and getting this club back into the postseason.    

Q:      What makes Hunter’s stuff so good?     We saw moments yesterday where he dominated but also moments where he went deep into counts, running up his total pitch count.    

A:       He’s a big figure out there. He’s 6’5”, has an over-the-top motion and he gets really good angles which makes his breaking pitches that much better. His curve ball has a lot of bite to it and guys don’t really get good looks at it. I like the way he attacks the strike zone. He might have been trying to be a little too perfect in spots.    

Q:      He really grew up last year did he not?

A:      Every time he went out there last season, he gave his team five, six, seven, eight innings or more, he was always pitching deep into ballgames and had a work horse mentality. And so now, when you’re the front-line starter, this is exactly what it entails. You have to be durable, reliable, consistent and try to eclipse 200 innings and 30 starts. He’s the right guy to do that and lead the younger rotation this year. He’s going to have a really big year. I wouldn’t dwell on the walks, I would focus on the nine K’s.     

Norris would start 30 games in 2013 for Houston, and finish his career with 67 wins and 1,153 strikeouts.

Approaching the top of the list and getting to prospects with more impact potential, we have lefty and righty high school pitchers with plus pitches, a faraway infielder with a sky high ceiling contrasted against a skills over tools outfielder on the cusp of the majors.

12. Juan Sanchez, SS, age 18 (DOB: 9/27/2007), grade: 40, 2025: unranked

Sanchez received the second largest bonus in the Blue Jays’ 2025 international class at just a hair under $1-million, so while he wasn’t one of the very top ranked prospects there was certainly some pedigree there. He more than put himself on the map last summer with a LOUD debut at .341/.439/.565, more than 50% abover league average.

Hot for average? Check. Power? Check. An idea at the plate? Check. There’s plenty he’ll have to show against much better pitching of course, but everything looks good so far. In the Spring Breakout game, Sanchez smashed a hanging slider from the Phillies 4th rounder last year off the fence with a short swing that exploded off his bat. It’s but one data point, but a heck of an impression.

Defensively, he split his time between short and third, and at 6’3” is not expected to stay a shortstop despite good athleticism. Regardless, this is about the potential for an impact bat, and it that works out it’s be no trouble to find him a home elsewhere on the infield, or even potentially in the outfield. Would he ideally rank this highly in a better system? No. There’s still an incredible amount of risk here.

11. Gage Stanifer, RHP, age 22 (DOB: 11/18/2003), grade: 40+, 2025: unranked/just missed

I really wish I had got around to publishing my just missed/pref list last year, because Stanifer was at the head of it (you’ll have to take to my word for it). The Blue Jays’ 19th rounder out of an Indianapolis high school in 2022, the Jays landed Stanifer for the $125,000 limit that doesn’t count against the draft pool. I’m always intrigued by these late round picks who clearly have a strong preference to play professionally rather than in college, and amount to essentially a free lottery ticket for the team if scouts can turn up a diamond in the rough.

So while Stanifer’s complex league debut wasn’t remarkable, I had tucked the name away and when he went up to Dunedin in the wake of several injuries to the rotation in early 2024 it was a priority follow for me. Again, while the results didn’t standout (6.34 ERA with 50 walks in 59.2 innings), there were some promising building blocks. He shows good fastball velocity, holding low-90s velocity, paired with the ability to spin a breaking ball that flashed plus. It’s just consistent strike throwing was his undoing, but nonetheless there was plenty to like.

Sometimes young pitchers never progress beyond that, and sometimes something clicks. And click it did for Stanifer in 2025. Piggybacked behind Trey Yesavage for the first half of the season, Stanifer blew away low-A hitters (0.69 ERA with 38 in 26 innings over seven starts). There were a few bumps initially at Vancouver, mostly control wobbles, but really hit his strike down the stretch in the rotation (60K in 37 IP in his last seven high-A starts) before a late season cameo up to AA.

Stanifer’s fastball was firmed up towards the mid-90s, and he misses plenty of bats with, but his best pitch is a mid-80s slider with big depth that can look like a power curve (and he mixes in either a slower variant or what is actually more of a power curve with more depth). His change-up is distinctly a third pitch, but encouragingly for a development perspective he used it plenty and would flash some good fade. Physically, he’s pretty already pretty maxxed out.

It’s going to come down to throwing enough strikes for Stanifer because the stuff is plenty good. That was an issue in his Spring Training appearances this year. Between the tenuous control and the change-up being a work in progress, my gut is he ultimately ends up in the bullpen (I’d put it at something like 75/25). He’s touched the upper 90s with his fastball and potentially could tick up to that consistently in short stints. And there’s not insignificant risk that the basic strikethrowing undermines him short of the majors.

10. Johnny King, LHP, age 19 (DOB: 7/26/2006), grade: 40+, 2025: 23th

One of the youngest players drafted in the 2024 Draft, King received a well overslot $1.25 million bonus to forgo his commitment to Miami as the Jays’ third rounder. The prototypical day two high school arm, King had a loose, whippy delivery from a low three quarters arm slot from a 6’4”/185 frame with room to add weight as he fills out.

Promoted to low-A Dunedin at midseason after bullying hitters on the complex (41K in 24 innings), King had a broadly successful 11 appearance run, with a 3.35 ERA in 37.1 innings, with a ridiculous 64 strikeouts amounting to just under 40%. The one drawback was 30 walks (18%), though it wasn’t a huge issue of not being able to throw strikes so much as running a lot of deep counts and losing hitters. A little overboard on the two true outcomes.

King did this principally with two pitches. His fastball sat in the low-90s with some run to his arm side, presenting a tough angle especially for young pitchers unfamiliar with that from the left side. He’s young enough that it could tick up as he matures and gets stronger. That’s paired with a big two-plane curve in the mid-70s that piled up swings and misses, albeit against hitters who were largely befuddled and completely eaten up by it. He used his changeup some, but more often and then he’d go away from it and rely on his others.

Though there is plenty of risk remaining, the successful debut has already somewhat derisked King’s profile in that the stuff clearly translated to full season ball. A solid athlete, he could project to have good command but it’s still well a work in progress. While he’s very young, there’s a lot of reliever traits and absent steps forward in command or to a viable third pitch, my gut would have him ultimately landing in the bullpen, with the distribution above reflecting that.

9. RJ Schreck, OF, age 25 (DOB: 7/12/2000), grade: 40+, 2025: 32nd

After four years at Duke and one season with Vanderbilt, Schreck was a priority senior sign by the Mariners in the 9th round of the 2023 Draft. After an unremarkable post draft debut, he put himself on the map at high-A Everett in the first half of 2024 with 12 home runs and .404 OBP. Traded to the Jays for Justin Turner, the power carried over to New Hampshire finishing the season at .251/.388/.462 (138 wRC+) and 17 HR.

I was the low guy on Schreck last year, skepticism stemming from both home parks having extreme short porches to right field thereby exaggerating his production (.240 home ISO, .188 road ISO). Beyond that, the production was driven by plate discipline outcomes, which for an experienced ACC/SEC hitter can be just waiting out wild young pitchers rather than true excellence (and his strikeout rate increased significantly at AA).

Schreck’s 2025 went a long way to dispelling at at least allaying that. After replicating his AA production, he moved up to Buffalo and had the profile hold up at AAA in posting a .242/.392/.435 line good for a 129 wRC+. He walked 16% while holding the strikeouts to 21%, and added 9 HR in half a season in a neutral environment.

While Schreck does not standout tools wise, added strength in the past few years has enhanced his power potential and he makes excellent swing decisions. Defensively, he’s been used in all three positions. While he doesn’t embarrass himself in CF and would be serviceable in a pinch, his future is in a corner where good reads and routes and an average arm acquit him well.

As a corner outfielder without above average power (or a standout hit tool), Schreck’s profile remains risky in terms of projecting a regular role. That said, he’s already shown improvements beyond his pre-draft profile with secondary skills that buffer shortcomings in raw tools. Until the profile and production shows signs of cracking, there’s reason to believe a late blooming diamond in the rough who could profile as an OBP-oriented everyday regular.