Blue Jays odds vs. Diamondbacks July 14: Toronto favoured at home in series opener behind Berrios

The Toronto Blue Jays kick off their second half on Friday with a series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Rogers Centre.

The pregame narrative: Toronto enters with a 50-41 mark, which is only good for third in the AL East. Arizona, surprisingly, is second in the NL West but has more wins than the first-place Dodgers. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno will make their returns to Toronto after getting traded for Daulton Varsho in the offseason.

Blue Jays odds vs. Diamondbacks

MLB odds as of 11:15 a.m. ET on 07/14/23.

Blue Jays vs. Diamondbacks preview

Toronto ended the first half strong following a sweep at the hands of the Red Sox to start the month. The Blue Jays won five of their final six games and hold a wild-card spot with 71 games remaining in the season.

Toronto beat up on a pair of AL Central bottom-feeders in the White Sox and Tigers but will face a much stiffer test out of the break with Jose Berrios on the mound.

Arizona, a +148 underdog as of Friday morning, also currently occupies a wild-card spot. The team is led by rookie sensation Corbin Carroll, who is top 10 in the majors in WAR, slugging and stolen bases.

He helps power a dangerous lineup that features Gurriel, Ketel Marte and Christian Walker. That group, all sporting a wRC+ of 115+, has powered the Dbacks to the eighth-most runs per game (4.93) in baseball.

Gurriel, in his first season with Arizona, is hitting .263/.316/.493 with 15 homers.

Arizona will need those bats with Ryne Nelson on the mound. Nelson, in his second season, has a 5.19 ERA and has allowed five-plus runs in five of his 18 starts.

Berrios, meanwhile, is coming off a seven-inning, one-hit gem against the White Sox.

After getting tagged for 14 runs (12 earned) in his first two starts of the season, Berrios has a 2.95 ERA over his last 16 outings.

Prop markets

The Blue Jays were late to announce their rotation plans for the weekend series, delaying the rollout of our prop markets. But they are here.

In a game where we expect the Jays to beat up Dbacks starter Ryne Nelson, there are many worthy props to target.

Here’s a sample of what’s available tonight:

MLB odds as of 4:14 p.m. ET on 07/14/23.