Blue Jays vs Rays Picks, Odds & Player Props to Target (May 25)

• The Blue Jays vs Rays odds list Tampa Bay as -135 moneyline favorites on Thursday
• Toronto’s Alek Manoah is 1-4 through 10 starts, with a 5.15 ERA and 1.74 WHIP
• Keep reading for the Blue Jays vs Rays predictions, picks and player prop targets

What a difference a year makes. Rewind to this time in 2022 and Alek Manoah was putting up elite numbers. He owned a 5-1 record for the Blue Jays with an ERA south of 2.00, and was earning serious buzz in the AL CY Young odds race.

2023 however, has been a different story. Manoah has struggled to keep the ball in the yard and has demonstrated serious control issues. He’ll look to get back on track on Thursday in Tampa Bay, but online sportsbooks don’t like his chances.

They’ve opened the Rays (35-15, 22-5 home) as home favorites in the MLB odds, as Tampa Bay looks to improve upon its league best home record.

Blue Jays vs Rays Odds

The Rays are currently -135 moneyline favorites, in a contest with a total of 8.5. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 pm ET indoors at Tropicana Field, and will mark the seventh meeting this season between these AL East rivals.

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Toronto vs Tampa Bay Probable Pitchers

Manoah’s resume through two MLB seasons consisted of a 25-9 record with an ERA under 3.00. Through 10 starts this year, he’s 1-4 with a 5.15 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. Opponents have produced an .850 OPS off him so far, while he’s allowed nine home runs in only 50.2 innings.

His strikeout rate has plummeted to 7.1%, and he’s already walked 33 batters after surrendering only 51 free passes in 196.2 innings last year.

Manoah has coughed up at least five runs in 30% of his 2023 starts, including his lone meeting versus the Rays. Tampa Bay’s regulars in the MLB starting lineups tagged him for nine hits and seven runs over 4.2 innings last month, en route to an 8-1 win.

Manoah vs Eflin Stats

The Rays will counter with Zach Eflin. Despite a sparkling 6-1 record, Eflin has been extremely hittable over his last few outings. He’s coughed up 11 runs in his past three outings, and has been taken deep five times.

Toronto’s lineup is among the most potent in baseball as we’ll discuss, but Eflin has showed a propensity to perform better at home. The 29-year-old is 5-0 at the Trop this season with a 2.40 ERA, compared to a 5.29 mark on the road.

He’s faced the Blue Jays only a couple of times in his career, but each outing has yielded favorable results for the righty. Current Toronto batters are hitting only .200 off Eflin over 35 at-bats, with three extra-base hits and 13 strikeouts.

Blue Jays vs Rays Predictions

Much of the talk on Wednesday was in regards to Toronto’s 20 run outburst on Tuesday. The Blue Jays pounded 27 hits and four homers off Tampa Bay pitching, but 10 of those runs came off positional players. Once the game was out of reach in the later stages the Rays opted to save their bullpen, and the results were pretty much as expected.

The @BlueJays become the first team to score 20 runs in a game this season! pic.twitter.com/2GypAOqz0G

— MLB (@MLB) May 24, 2023

Toronto is a top-10 scoring team, but we shouldn’t expect another double-digit output on Thursday. The Blue Jays had crossed the plate just 10 times in their previous three games versus the Rays, and were held to 12 runs total in five straight defeats prior to Tuesday’s eruption.

As for the Tampa Bay bats, yes they were quiet on Tuesday, but they bounced back on Wednesday with seven more runs. The Rays have scored at least six times in three of their last four versus Toronto, and in 27 of 51 games so far this season. Tampa Bay is second to Texas in runs per game, and leads MLB in home runs, slugging and OPS.

Blue Jays vs Rays 2023 H2H Results

Wander Franco led the attack on Wednesday with three hits and two RBI, giving him multi-hit efforts in two of his last three starts. Josh Lowe meanwhile, got the night off but we should see him back versus Manoah on Thursday. Lowe has three multi-hit games in his last six starts and boasts a .632 slugging percentage and .990 OPS versus righties like Manoah this year.

Picks:

• Tampa Bay Rays Over 4 Runs (-124)
• Josh Lowe 2+ Hits (+280)
• Alek Manoah Under 4.5 Strikeouts (-106)