Tampa Bay Rays vs Toronto Blue Jays Predictions, MLB Picks, Betting Tips 8/14/2020

Game: Tampa Bay Rays vs Toronto Blue Jays

Date: Friday, August 14, 2020

Location: Sahlen Field in Buffalo, NY

TV: SUN/RSN/FS1

Odds/Point Spread: Rays (-176) Blue Jays (+166)

Sahlen Field is the site where Bo Bichette and the Toronto Blue Jays (6-9, 4th in AL East) will take on the Tampa Bay Rays (11-8, 2nd in AL East) on Friday. The Blue Jays open this contest at +166 while the Rays are coming in at -176. The over/under opens at 9. The pitchers taking the mound are Trevor Richards and Tanner Roark.

Key Tampa Bay Rays Injuries

8/12/2020 Yonny Chirinos SP Triceps Expected to be out until at least Aug 15
8/12/2020 Andrew Kittredge RP Elbow Out for the season
8/10/2020 Charlie Morton SP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Aug 20
8/9/2020 Oliver Drake RP Biceps Expected to be out until at least Aug 19
7/21/2020 Colin Poche RP Elbow Out for the season

Key Toronto Blue Jays Injuries

8/7/2020 Trent Thornton SP Elbow Expected to be out until at least Aug 31
8/5/2020 Derek Fisher RF Quadriceps Expected to be out until at least Aug 15
8/4/2020 Elvis Luciano RP Undisclosed Expected to be out until at least Aug 24
7/30/2020 Yennsy Diaz RP Lat Expected to be out until at least Aug 15
7/28/2020 Ken Giles RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 1

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Rays have a 11-8 overall record this season. Richards has pitched in 271 frames and has accounted for 265 K's during his career. His ERA is 4.28 (129 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.384. He has given up 262 base knocks (8.7 hits per 9 innings) with 113 free passes. Richards (10-21 mark in his career) has a FIP of 4.24 and he has faced 1,172 batters in the major leagues. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.59 and they have given up 95 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .239 against the bullpen and they've struck out 105 hitters and walked 31 batters. As a team, Tampa Bay allows 9 hits per nine innings while striking out 9.9 batters per nine innings. They are 5th in the league in team earned run average at 3.75. The Rays pitchers collectively have given up 166 base hits and 69 earned runs. They have allowed 19 home runs this season, ranking them 23rd in the league. Tampa Bay as a pitching staff has walked 58 batters and struck out 182. They have walked 3.2 men per 9 innings while striking out 9.9 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.35 and their FIP as a unit is 3.58.

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Hitting Statistics

As a team Tampa Bay is hitting .234, good for 19th in the league. The Rays hold a .408 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .329, which is good for 8th in baseball. They rank 23rd in MLB with 7.5 hits per game. Austin Meadows is hitting .273 with an on-base percentage of .351. He has 9 hits this season in 33 at bats with 4 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .515 and an OPS+ of 140. Kevin Kiermaier is hitting .245 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .339. He has totaled 12 hits and he has driven in 9 men in 49 at bats. His OPS+ is 89 while his slugging percentage is at .327. The Rays have 143 hits, including 40 doubles and 18 home runs. Tampa Bay has walked 81 times so far this season and they have struck out 176 times as a unit. They have left 122 men on base and have a team OPS of .736. They score 4.74 runs per contest and have scored a total of 90 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Toronto has a 6-9 overall mark this year. So far in his pro baseball career, Roark has surrendered 1,053 base knocks while he has accumulated 896 strikeouts in 1,108 frames. He has conceded 458 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.238 and a FIP of 4.1. His SO/W ratio is 2.81 and he has faced 4,616 batters during his career. Roark (75-65 mark in his career) has earned a 3.72 ERA and has allowed 8.6 hits per 9 innings. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.72 and they have given up 51 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .180 against the Blue Jays bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 78 batters and walked 34 opposing hitters. As a team, Toronto allows 6.9 hits per nine innings while striking out 9.3 batters per nine innings. They are 10th in the league in team earned run average at 4.03. The Blue Jays pitchers as a team have surrendered 103 base knocks and 60 earned runs this season. They have given up 18 home runs this year, which ranks 26th in Major League Baseball. Toronto as a staff has walked 68 hitters and struck out 138 batters. They give up a walk 4.6 times per 9 innings while they strike out 9.3 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.28 while their FIP as a staff is 4.30.

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Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .233, good for 20th in the league. The Blue Jays hold a .412 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .293, which is good for 28th in baseball. They rank 12th in MLB with 8.1 hits per contest. Bo Bichette comes into this matchup batting .352 with an OBP of .386. He has 19 hits this year along with 10 RBI in 54 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .648 with an OPS+ of 185. Cavan Biggio is hitting .197 this season and he has an OBP of .290. He has collected 12 hits in 61 at bats while driving in 8 runs. He has an OPS+ of 95 and a slugging percentage of .410. The Blue Jays as a unit have 121 base hits, including 22 doubles and 23 homers. Toronto has walked 46 times this year and they have struck out on 132 occasions. They have had 100 men left on base and have an OPS of .706. They have scored 3.67 runs per game and totaled 55 runs this season.

Who will win tonight's Rays/Blue Jays MLB game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take the Rays (-176)

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