Toronto Blue Jays vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction, 3/30/2024 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Toronto Blue Jays vs Tampa Bay Rays

Date: Saturday, March 30, 2024

Location: Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL

TV: Bally Sports Sun

The Tampa Bay Rays (99-63 last season) will go up against the Toronto Blue Jays (89-73 last year) at Tropicana Field on Saturday. The pitchers who are expected to start will be Yusei Kikuchi and Zack Littell.

The Blue Jays tallied 292 two-baggers as a team and hit 188 balls out of the stadium. Toronto had a slugging percentage of .417 and were rung up 1,303 times, while taking a walk on 550 occasions. As a squad, the Toronto Blue Jays recorded 4.6 runs per contest, which ranked them 15th in the league. They amassed 706 runs batted in and 1,424 base knocks last year, while their batting average sat at .256. They earned 746 runs while having a team OBP of .329.

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They had 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 671 runs in total (6th in the league). Toronto relinquished 1,326 hits (8.2 per 9 innings) and 610 earned runs. The Blue Jays compiled a team earned run average of 3.78 during the previous year (4th in MLB), and their staff rung up 1,528 batters. They walked 488 opposing players and their FIP came in at 4.06 as a squad in the prior season.

Blue Jays bullpen pitchers went to the mound with players on base 166 times and also had 192 outings in high leverage situations. The relievers had a total of 106 holds over the course of the prior season (2nd in MLB). The Blue Jays relief pitchers earned a save rate of 73.9% and stepped onto the mound in 175 save situations. They earned 51 saves last year and missed out on 18 of 69 chances to get a save. The bullpen inherited 236 base runners for the previous season with 22.9% of those players crossed home plate. The Blue Jays sent 550 relief pitchers to the hill for the prior year.

The Toronto Blue Jays earned 4,355 putouts over the course of last year, as well as 1,307 assists and 71 errors. Their fielding percentage was at .988 which put them in 6th in MLB, and earned 125 double plays. The Blue Jays transformed 69.3% of baseballs in play into outs out of 13,065 innings, which ranked them 16th in pro baseball.

Kikuchi (32-37 record in his career) has a FIP of 4.82 and he has faced 2,735 hitters in the majors. He has surrendered 639 base knocks (9.1 hits per nine innings) and has 238 free passes. His earned run average is 4.71 (332 earned runs allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.383. Kikuchi has taken the hill for 634 innings and is sitting with 631 K's so far in his career.

The Tampa Bay Rays recorded a team on-base percentage of .331 in addition to a batting average of .260 for the prior year. They struck out on 1,420 occasions (13th in the league) and tallied 1,432 base knocks. Tampa Bay hit 230 home runs over the course of last year to go along with 827 runs batted in. The Rays held a team SLG% of .445 and they tallied 5.31 runs per contest (4th in baseball). They hit 282 doubles, while getting a free base 514 times as well as putting up 860 runs.

The Rays had a team WHIP of 1.178 and had a FIP of 3.81 as a staff over the course of the prior season. They were sitting at 2nd in the league as a pitching staff in total hits surrendered with 1,259. The Tampa Bay pitching staff yielded 665 runs for the prior year while having an ERA of 3.86 (619 earned runs yielded). They earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 9.40 (1,507 strikeouts against 439 walks). They relinquished 177 homers and they relinquished 4.15 runs per 9 innings (5th in baseball).

Ending the season with 155 save situations, the Rays had 78 holds in addition to 31 blown saves. Tampa Bay had bullpen pitchers enter the game in 76 save opportunities and they earned 45 saves. Their relievers took the field 163 times in high leverage situations in addition to 121 occasions with base runners. Tampa Bay relievers had an inherited score rate of 28.4% out of 183 inherited base runners. They were sitting at 20th in the league with a save percentage of 59.2%, and they dispatched 536 relievers to the hill last year.

In their 12,978 innings on the field, the Rays had a defensive efficiency of 70.3% (5th in baseball). The Tampa Bay Rays turned 114 double plays and had a fielding percentage of .987 (9th in pro baseball). The Rays racked up 1,401 assists, 74 errors and are sitting with 4,326 putouts in the previous season.

During his career, Littell has surrendered 259 hits while earning 225 K's in 259 frames. He has conceded 118 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.275 and being the owner of a FIP of 4.4. He has a K/BB ratio of 3.13 and he has gone up against 1,099 batters in his MLB career. Littell (16-11 win-loss mark in his career) has earned a 4.09 earned run average while surrendering 9.0 hits per 9 innings.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Tampa Bay

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