Athletics vs Blue Jays Picks and Predictions: Will Vladdy's Bat Be Enough Against Oakland?

The Toronto Blue Jays are coming off a series split with the New York Yankees that featured highs and lows perfectly encapsulated by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s last couple of nights. A three-home run masterpiece followed by a golden sombrero. 

The Jays now return home to take on the Oakland Athletics, who are coming off an impressive 3-1 road series win against the Tampa Bay Rays. Will Matt Chapman put on a big performance to lead his new team to a win against his former mates? 

Find out with our free MLB betting picks and predictions for Athletics vs. Blue Jays on Friday, April 15.

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Athletics vs Blue Jays odds

This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.

The Blue Jays opened this American League matchup as sizeable favorites, hitting the board at about -210. But it’s the A's who are seeing the early money, moving the Jays down to -185. Meanwhile, the total opened at 9.5 but hasn’t seen too much action as of early Friday afternoon.

Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full MLB odds before placing your bets.

Athletics vs Blue Jays predictions

• Prediction: Athletics ML (+165)
• Prediction: Over 9.5 (-110)
• Best bet: Guerrero Jr. Over 1.5 TB (-115)
• Best bet: Over 9.5 (-110)

Picks made on 4/15/2022 at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.

Athletics vs Blue Jays game info

• Location: Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON
• Date: Friday, April 15, 2022
• First pitch: 7:07 p.m. ET
• TV: Sportsnet

Athletics vs Blue Jays betting preview

Starting pitchers

Daulton Jefferies (1-0, 0.00 ERA): Jefferies will be making just his fourth career major league start but is coming off an impressive performance to begin the year. The right-hander pitched five scoreless innings while giving up just two hits against a strong Phillies lineup. Can he do the same against the Jays?

Ross Stripling (0-0, 9.00 ERA): Stripling will be making a spot start for the Blue Jays, giving the guys in the rotation a little break. The right-hander pitched to a 4.80 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP in 24 appearances last season (19 starts). Stripling has struggled with his control early on, walking three batters in two innings of relief work.

Weather

Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.

Key injuries

Athletics: No key injuries to report.
Blue Jays: Teoscar Hernandez OF (Out), Danny Jansen C (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.

Betting trend to know

The Over is 5-2 in the A's last seven games when facing a right-handed starter, and 4-1-1 in the Blue Jays' last six games as a favorite. Find more MLB betting trends for Athletics vs. Blue Jays.

Athletics vs Blue Jays picks and predictions

Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.

Moneyline analysis

The Blue Jays return after a two-game split with the Yankees which featured plenty of highs and lows. Nothing was higher than the nearly 1,300 feet of home runs hit by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on Wednesday night. On the flip side, Toronto was also shut out twice and lost All-Star Teoscar Hernandez for at least 10 days with a strained oblique. 

So, the Jays' depth will be tested in this weekend series with the A’s, whose pitching staff has allowed three runs or fewer in four of their last five games. On top of no Hernandez, catcher Danny Jansen will also be out for an extended period of time.

While Guerrero and George Springer will produce, for the most part, Toronto will need guys like Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and former A’s third baseman Matt Chapman to pick up the slack after slow starts to the season. Even so, if Jefferies can pitch as he did in his first outing. the Jays will be in tough. 

Jefferies, who shut down the Phillies in his first start of the season, relies mostly on a sinker, changeup, and a cutter, but while he put up strong numbers against the Phillies, the advanced numbers say he got a little lucky. More on that later.

Meanwhile, the A’s offense has been ultra-clutch through the early part of this season. They lead the MLB with a .396 batting average with runners in scoring position. 

While the Jays can certainly win this matchup, until their other offensive pieces settle in, it’s hard to back them at a price this high, particularly considering the groove the A’s are in at the moment.

Prediction: Athletics moneyline (+165 at bet365)

Over/Under analysis

While there doesn’t seem to be a ton of value in the moneyline in this matchup, the total should provide us with a nice opportunity as 9.5 is just low enough to attack the Over.

For starters, Stripling is pretty much as mediocre as it gets. Last season, he had an expected opponent batting average of .256 and an expected ERA of 4.99. He also averaged just 4.5 innings pitched over his 19 starts last season, so there should be plenty of innings for a Jays bullpen that already feels overworked at times and rank fifth in innings pitched. 

Now they’ll have to face an Oakland offense that has been clutch and has scored seven runs per game over the last five games. 

Meanwhile, even though Jefferies put up strong numbers against the Phillies, he might have been a bit lucky. While giving up no runs on two hits Jefferies got hit hard and had an expected batting average of .354 and an expected ERA of 9.23.

And even though the Jays are dealing with injuries and were shut out a couple of times last series, they still rank eighth in OPS when it comes to facing right-handed pitching. Mix in an A’s bullpen that ranks 26th in WHIP and this game has a great chance to go Over the number.

Prediction: Over 9.5 (-110 at FanDuel)

Best bet

People were dying to see what Vladdy would do for an encore after his 4-for-4 three-home run night on Wednesday. So, after the emotion of that big night, it shouldn’t have been a big surprise for him to have a little letdown at the dish the following game. 

Don’t expect that to last long. Guerrero is back home and is arguably the best hitter in baseball. He’s hitting .333 with a 1.172 OPS and four dingers already this season. And as noted, Jefferies was getting hit hard by the Phillies and struggled in the spring. And no one hits the ball harder than Guerrero.

Bet on Vladdy to bounce back and go Over his total bases prop, while also contributing to the Over for the full-game total.

Pick: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Over 1.5 total bases (-115)

Pick: Over 9.5 (-110 at FanDuel) 

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