Toronto Blue Jays vs New York Yankees Prediction, 9/17/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Toronto Blue Jays vs New York Yankees

Date: Thursday, September 17, 2020

Location: Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY

TV: RSN/YES

Odds/Point Spread: Blue Jays (+184) Yankees (-200)

Yankee Stadium is the venue where DJ LeMahieu and the New York Yankees (27-21, 2nd in AL East) will play the Toronto Blue Jays (26-21, 3rd in AL East) on Thursday. The Blue Jays open this game at +184 while the Yankees are priced at -200. The over/under opens at 9.5. The men taking the mound will be Chase Anderson and Masahiro Tanaka.

Key Toronto Blue Jays Injuries

9/15/2020 Elvis Luciano RP Undisclosed Expected to be out until at least Sep 21
9/15/2020 Teoscar Hernandez RF Oblique Expected to be out until at least Sep 18
9/15/2020 Yennsy Diaz RP Lat Expected to be out until at least Sep 25
9/11/2020 Nate Pearson SP Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 20
9/11/2020 Jordan Romano RP Finger Expected to be out until at least Sep 25
9/11/2020 Matt Shoemaker SP Lat Expected to be out until at least Sep 25
9/9/2020 Rowdy Tellez 1B Knee Out for the season
9/7/2020 Wilmer Font RP Lower Leg Expected to be out until at least Sep 18
8/27/2020 Trent Thornton SP Elbow Out for the season

Key New York Yankees Injuries

9/16/2020 James Paxton SP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 27
9/16/2020 Gleyber Torres SS Quadriceps Expected to be out until at least Sep 17
8/6/2020 Tommy Kahnle RP Elbow Out for the season
6/28/2020 Luis Severino SP Elbow Out for the season

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Blue Jays have a 26-21 overall record this season. Anderson has taken the ball for 883 innings and has earned 746 strikeouts during his pro baseball career. His earned run average is 4.00 (392 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.271. He has conceded 833 hits (8.5 hits per 9 innings) and has had 289 walks. Anderson (53-41 record in his career) sits with a FIP of 4.60 while he has gone up against 3,696 opposing hitters during his time in the major leagues. The bullpen has an earned run average of 4.10 and they have given up 189 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .202 against the bullpen and they've struck out 223 hitters and walked 112 batters. As a team, Toronto allows 8.6 hits per nine innings while striking out 9.1 batters per nine innings. They are 12th in the league in team earned run average at 4.27. The Blue Jays pitchers collectively have given up 395 base hits and 197 earned runs. They have allowed 62 home runs this season, ranking them 14th in the league. Toronto as a pitching staff has walked 194 batters and struck out 420. They have walked 4.2 men per 9 innings while striking out 9.1 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.42 and their FIP as a unit is 4.61.

Related: Get MLB predictions on all of today's games

Hitting Statistics

As a team Toronto is hitting .253, good for 11th in the league. The Blue Jays hold a .438 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .325, which is good for 15th in baseball. They rank 11th in MLB with 8.6 hits per game. Bo Bichette is hitting .338 with an on-base percentage of .364. He has 25 hits this season in 74 at bats with 14 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .608 and an OPS+ of 159. Cavan Biggio is hitting .246 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .363. He has totaled 44 hits and he has driven in 21 men in 179 at bats. His OPS+ is 113 while his slugging percentage is at .419. The Blue Jays have 404 hits, including 81 doubles and 70 home runs. Toronto has walked 170 times so far this season and they have struck out 393 times as a unit. They have left 317 men on base and have a team OPS of .763. They score 4.87 runs per contest and have scored a total of 229 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

New York has a 27-21 overall mark this year. In his career, Tanaka has conceded 968 hits while accumulating 981 strikeouts in 1,044 frames. He has conceded 432 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 1.124 and having a FIP of 3.9. His SO/W ratio is 4.79 and he has faced 4,249 batters thus far in his career. Tanaka (77-45 record in his career) has earned a 3.72 earned run average while allowing 8.3 hits per 9 innings. The bullpen has an earned run average of 4.34 and they have given up 136 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .194 against the Yankees bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 174 batters and walked 75 opposing hitters. As a team, New York allows 7.9 hits per nine innings while striking out 9.6 batters per nine innings. They are 11th in the league in team earned run average at 4.15. The Yankees pitchers as a team have surrendered 343 base knocks and 181 earned runs this season. They have given up 66 home runs this year, which ranks 9th in Major League Baseball. New York as a staff has walked 136 hitters and struck out 418 batters. They give up a walk 3.1 times per 9 innings while they strike out 9.6 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.22 while their FIP as a staff is 4.45.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .242, good for 19th in the league. The Yankees hold a .443 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .336, which is good for 7th in baseball. They rank 21st in MLB with 7.6 hits per contest. DJ LeMahieu comes into this matchup batting .363 with an OBP of .409. He has 53 hits this year along with 19 RBI in 146 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .575 with an OPS+ of 167. Aaron Hicks is hitting .209 this season and he has an OBP of .374. He has collected 27 hits in 129 at bats while driving in 14 runs. He has an OPS+ of 115 and a slugging percentage of .403. The Yankees as a unit have 363 base hits, including 66 doubles and 75 homers. New York has walked 192 times this year and they have struck out on 386 occasions. They have had 320 men left on base and have an OPS of .779. They have scored 5.06 runs per game and totaled 243 runs this season.

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

Josh's Pick: Take the Yankees (-200)

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