Jason Storm
Free Picks Newsletter Lead Researcher
175-118-1 Overall Record

MLB Predictions: Toronto Blue Jays (-114) at Miami Marlins (+121) Over-Under: 8.5

After the first few days into summer some teams are gonna need some major help to get back to the top of their divisions or even compete for a playoff spot. The Marlins and the Blue Jays are two of those  teams. Both have had their enjoyment of competing at the top of their  separate divisions this season but its started to look very wayward  now. With the Braves, Mets and Nationals doing very good they have  pushed the Marlins 8.0 games back, while The Blue Jays are sitting in  last place behind the entire AL East at 6.5 games back. Now It’s still  early and those games can be made up easily if some certain people start dropping off. Both have very good teams but cant seem to stay with the big dogs.

First up we’ve got the Toronto Blue Jays making the trip into the new  Miami stadium. The Jays haven’t been to great on the road this season  with a 16-19 record so far. The biggest fear now for Toronto is going  to be pitching. They have 7 different pitchers on the DL and one isn’t  returning for the whole season (Kyle Drabek) with Tommy-Johns surgery.  Losing Marrow (7-4) is going to be the worst for them in a rotation  that’s going to see many players being called up in the next week. Who they do have taking the mound against the weird playing Marlins is
Ricky Romero. He is 7-1 but hes only at a 4.28 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP which isn’t terrible but it doesn’t put him in the top AL East guys.

Don’t fret though, the birds so have a good batting squad. Ranking 2nd in the MLB in Home Runs and 4th in the league with Runs 4.84. If you leave it up to Lawrie or Bautista its gonna get nasty. Anibal Sanchez may not be the guy to knock them down.

Speaking of Anibal Sanchez, hes got a much better ERA (3.47) and WHIP (1.13) than Romero just without the wins as Anibal only has a 3-5 record. His last 3 games haven’t been the kindest trashing his ERA and WHIP for those games respectfully. He’s looking to bounce back but hes gonna need a bunch of help to get past the high swinging Blue Jays. The Marlins don’t have the best stats going for their offense. They stay at the far end of the spectrum besides being the best team for Stolen Bases. They are the 28th team in the entire MLB for Runs/G and
26th in Batting Average. Omar Infante could be their key guy in this game seeing as he went 6 for 12 against the Boston Red Sox with a few RBIs. I just don’t see the Romero, being as shaky as he has been, tossing stuff away from the fence swingers and causing the chaos hes planning.

Sure the Blue Jays have dropped to last but they are only 1 GB the Red Sox, who arent playing very good, and they have something to really fight for and need to stay in contention until their ailing pitchers come back from the DL. The Marlins will be just trying to get another win at home which they desperately need, even if its just to see that crazy dolphin statue start moving. The Blue Jays will step up and knock a few runs in from Romero and I think it will be a higher scoring game, just for Toronto. Sorry Heat fans, not all of your teams are that good.

Pick: Toronto Blue Jays  (-114)