The Toronto Blue Jays are coming off a bit of a disappointing west coast swing, but they’ll try to end their road trip on a high note when they open a mini two-game set in Washington against the Nationals.
The Blue Jays hand the ball to rookie sensation Alek Manoah while the Nationals counter with Erick Fedde. Is it worth backing the Jays at a high price or do the Nats have value as a home dog?
Check out our MLB free picks and predictions for Blue Jays vs. Nationals on Tuesday, August 17 and find out.
Blue Jays vs Nationals game info
• Location: Nationals Park, Washington, DC
• Date: Tuesday, August 17, 2021
• Time: 7:05 p.m. ET
• TV: YouTube
Blue Jays vs Nationals odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
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Blue Jays vs Nationals betting preview
Starting pitchers
Alek Manoah (5-1, 2.59 ERA): Manoah has been impressive in his rookie season and is limiting opponents to a .181 batting average over his first 11 starts to go along with a solid ERA.
Erick Fedde (4-8, 5.12 ERA): Fedde has had his highs and lows this season and he might be at a low point at the moment. The right-hander has a 6.08 ERA and is allowing opponents to hit .317 over his last four starts.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
Blue Jays: George Springer (Questionable), Cavan Biggio UTL (Questionable), Tim Mayza RP (Questionable), Joakim Soria RP (Out).
Nationals: Austin Voth RP (Questionable), Kyle McGowin RP (Questionable).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Blue Jays are 8-3 in Alek Manoah’s starts this season. Find more MLB betting trends for Blue Jays vs. Nationals.
Runline pick
It looked like things went from bad to worse over the weekend for the Blue Jays. They were on the verge of getting swept by the Mariners and Blue Jays’ nation was given a scare as George Springer needed to be helped off the field.
But the Jays responded with a win on Sunday and Springer’s x-ray came back negative and he could be back much sooner than expected. Now, the Jays’ task at hand is to make up 4.5 games in the Wild Card race, which means taking care of business against a Nationals team that is doing its best to run out the clock on a lost season.
The Nats have lost 12 of their last 13 games and Fedde might have a hard time slowing that down. The right-hander has been hit hard this season and is finding too much of the plate with his sinker and cutter. He ranks in the bottom 17th percent in the MLB in expected batting average and the bottom seventh percentile in whiff rate and chase percentage.
That doesn’t bode well against a Jays team that ranks at or near the top of most major offensive categories when it comes to facing right-handers.
On the other side, Manoah’s last six starts have been particularly impressive, pitching to a 1.53 ERA while allowing a .165 batting average. The Nats still hit for a solid average, they are obviously lacking depth and experience in the lineup right now, and Manoah has proven he can handle a stronger lineup than this. The value is with the Jays to win this one by a couple of runs.
PREDICTION: Blue Jays -1.5 (-115)
Over/Under pick
The Blue Jays’ bats got back on track in their finale against the Mariners, putting up eight runs on 12 hits, including four dingers, in what turned out to be an 8-3 Jays victory. There is a good chance the scoring could continue after an off day and a return to the east coast.
We already mentioned Toronto’s path to success against Fedde, but Fedde will also eventually have to hand the ball off to a Nats’ bullpen that ranks 25th ERA and 20th in opponent batting average. Speaking of bad bullpens, the Jays’ continues to give their fans nightmares. While the overall numbers aren’t bad, they always seem to give up a couple of runs.
With the Over going 6-2 in the Jays' last eight games and 12-3 in the Nationals' last 15, we like the trend to continue in this one.
PREDICTION: Over 9.5 (-110)
Blue Jays vs Nationals betting card
- Blue Jays -1.5 (-115)
- Over 9.5 (-110)
Picks made on 8/17/2021 at 12:30 a.m. ET
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