Toronto Blue Jays vs Houston Astros Prediction, 4/1/2024 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Toronto Blue Jays vs Houston Astros

Date: Monday, April 1, 2024

Location: Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX

TV: Space City Home Network

The Toronto Blue Jays (89-73 last year) are hitting the road to Minute Maid Park on Monday where they will attempt to defeat the Houston Astros (90-72 last season). The starting pitchers are Kevin Gausman and Ronel Blanco.

As a team, the Toronto Blue Jays scored 4.6 runs per outing, which put them at 15th in the league. They were sitting with 746 runs while holding a team OBP of .329. The Blue Jays accrued 292 doubles as a team and hit 188 balls out of the park. They amassed 706 runs batted in in addition to 1,424 base knocks in the previous season, and their batting average was .256. Toronto had a slugging percentage of .417 and were called out on strikes 1,303 times, while taking a walk on 550 occasions.

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They earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.13 and their pitching staff had a collective WHIP of 1.25. Blue Jays pitchers surrendered 198 home runs and also 671 total runs (6th in the league). Toronto conceded 1,326 hits (8.2 per 9 innings) in addition to 610 earned runs. The Blue Jays compiled a team ERA of 3.78 last season (4th in baseball), and the staff rung up 1,528 hitters. They walked 488 opposing players and their FIP came in at 4.06 as a team for the previous season.

The Blue Jays dispatched 550 relief pitchers to the hill for the prior year. The bullpen inherited 236 runners in the prior season and 22.9% of those runners earned a run for their team. They recorded 51 saves for the prior year and did not convert 18 of their 69 chances to save the game. The Blue Jays relief pitchers had a save percentage of 73.9% and came into the game in 175 save situations. The relief pitchers notched 106 holds during the previous year (2nd in the league). Blue Jays pitchers entered the game with runners on base 166 times and also had 192 contests in high leverage situations.

The Toronto Blue Jays had a tally of 4,355 putouts for the previous season, in addition to 1,307 assists and 71 errors. Their fielding percentage held steady at .988 which put them in 6th in the majors, and had a total of 125 double plays. The Blue Jays turned 69.3% of balls hit into play into outs out of their 13,065 innings on the field, which had them ranked 16th in baseball.

Gausman has taken the hill for 1,537 innings and has earned 1,603 punch outs so far in his career. Gausman (88-91 mark in his career) sits with a FIP of 3.60 while he has gone up against 6,455 opposing batters during his time in the majors. His ERA is 3.84 (656 ER's allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.265. He has given up 1,515 hits (8.9 hits per 9 innings) with 429 free passes.

The Astros had a SLG% of .437 and they scored 5.10 runs per game (5th in MLB). They had 280 doubles, while walking 550 times and scoring 827 runs. Houston compiled 222 home runs over the course of the prior season to go along with 799 RBIs. They were called out on strikes on 1,241 instances (28th in the league) and had 1,441 base hits. The Houston Astros earned an OBP of .331 and a team batting average of .259 last season.

The Houston pitching staff conceded 698 runs for the previous season while holding a team ERA of 3.94 (632 earned runs yielded). They surrendered 201 long balls and they allowed 4.35 runs per 9 innings (9th in MLB). The Astros had a WHIP of 1.279 with a FIP of 4.31 as a pitching staff for the previous season. Their K/BB ratio came in at 9.10 (1,460 strikeouts vs 537 free passes). They were ranked 8th in baseball as a staff in total hits given up with 1,312.

Houston relievers had an inherited score percentage of 31.1% out of 161 inherited base runners. Their bullpen pitchers took the field 151 times in high leverage situations in addition to 97 occasions with runners on base. With 148 save situations, the Astros amassed 86 holds in addition to 19 blown saves. They ranked 6th in MLB with a save rate of 68.9%, and they sent 513 relievers to the mound last year. Houston had bullpen pitchers enter the contest in 61 save chances and they came away with 42 saves.

In 13,008 innings played, the Astros finished with a efficiency on defense of 69.7% (10th in MLB). The Houston Astros turned 144 double plays and had a fielding percentage of .986 (14th in professional baseball). The Astros racked up 1,346 assists, 81 errors and earned a total of 4,336 putouts last season.

Blanco (2-1 career win-loss record) has a 4.78 earned run average and has allowed 8.8 hits per 9 innings. His strikeout to walk ratio is 1.84 and he has faced 258 opposing batters in his pro baseball career. He has surrendered 31 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.526 and a FIP of 5.9. Thus far in his career, Blanco has allowed 57 hits while he has earned 59 punch outs in 58 innings.

Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread or moneyline?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Toronto

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