Blue Jays vs. Rays prop bets: Fade struggling Manoah
The Toronto Blue Jays are hoping to get even as they wrap up their series with the Tampa Bay Rays.
The pregame narrative: George Springer and Josh Lowe are swinging hot sticks and we’re betting on them putting forward solid performances. Alek Manoah is off to a sluggish start in 2023 and we’re fading him.
Editor's note: Since the time of this writing, it has been announced that George Springer wouldn't be in the starting lineup for the Toronto Blue Jays.
MLB odds as of 9:11 a.m. ET on 05/25/23.
Blue Jays vs. Rays prop bets
Best Bet: Springer over 1.5 total bases (+123)
Hot hitter versus cold pitcher is a matchup we’ll gladly get in on.
An underwhelming start seems to be firmly in Springer’s rearview. Slashing an uncharacteristic .225/.283/.315 through April, the Blue Jays star is doing his best to improve upon those numbers. Springer owns a much stronger .284/.363/.469 slash line in May.
He’s facing off against Rays starter Zach Eflin, who’s experiencing the exact opposite. Posting a 2.25 ERA through his first five starts, Eflin has a 5.21 ERA across his last three.
He’s giving up a good amount of contact during this stretch, too, ceding 18 hits across his last 19.0 innings pitched.
More of an anecdotal point than anything else, but Eflin and Springer have faced off once before and the Toronto outfielder ripped a double off of him.
Key stat: Springer has gone over 1.5 total bases in four of his last six outings.
Quick picks
Lowe over 1.5 total bases (+120): Lowe is also seeing the ball well ahead of this contest. In his last 11 games, he’s slashing .302/.348/.651 with four home runs and three doubles. He has cleared this line in five of his last 10 starts.
He’s squaring off against a pitcher in Manoah who has really struggled this year (more on him later).
Lowe’s impressive ability to hit for power (95th percentile expected SLG per Baseball Savant) makes him a threat to clear this line with just one swing of the bat.
Manoah under 16.5 outs (-118): This would’ve been a modest line for Manoah a season ago, but the Blue Jays hurler is really struggling this year. He has cleared this line in just two of his 10 starts, and Thursday doesn’t shape up as a great matchup for him.
Tampa Bay leads the majors in OPS (.848), is first in total bases per game (16.98) and third in hits per contest (9.18).
That’s bad news for Manoah, who has a 5.15 ERA and is giving up a .392 on-base percentage to opposing hitters.
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