Back Blue Jays In Series Opener

Blue Jays vs. Twins, 4:30 ET

I'm happy to see some more baseball on the schedule after ending the season strong. The strong ending and the disaster of a play yesterday in Monday Night Football makes me more anxious than ever to get back into baseball. I'm excited to see what the playoffs have in store for us in this Wild Card round. I have to assume at least one of these eight teams will make the World Series as I think the layoff could throw off one of the teams with a bye. Of all the teams in this round, I think one today could be the American League Champion: the Toronto Blue Jays. They take on the Twins tonight.

The Blue Jays were able to make it to the playoffs after battling the entire season. They were in the hardest division in all of baseball and were still able to win almost 90 games. They had to also fight for their spot until the end of the year as they were being chased by the Mariners, Astros, and Rangers as the three of them fought for the Wild Card (and the AL West division). I think the Blue Jays are one of the more well-rounded teams and their never being able to let off the gas might prove beneficial in the playoffs. The offense of Toronto is one of the more dynamic, being able to hit for power and average. They have speed on the bases and seem to keep innings alive rather than run themselves out of innings. Tonight, they also get the best of their pitchers, Kevin Gausman, taking the ball. He had a great season and finished second in strikeouts and seventh in ERA. He also ended the year strong against the Yankees as he had two consecutive starts where he allowed six hits and no earned runs over 13 innings. He did face the Twins twice this season and it was mixed results. In Minnesota, he allowed just one earned run over 5.1 innings. At home, he allowed six earned runs over 4.2 innings. However, the Blue Jays did win both of the games.

HOUSTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 25: Carlos Correa #4 of the Minnesota Twins bats in the eighth inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on August 25, 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)

The Twins have no control over their division, but where the Blue Jays were in the best division, the Twins were in the worst. They were able to win 87 games and obviously not all of those were against the Central, but I will say, I think the Twins are the worst of all the playoff teams. I don't think they have an elite-level offense, but they did score more runs than the Blue Jays this season. Most of that is because of the home runs. I'm sure if you watch the game, you'll hear that the Twins have lost 18 straight playoff games. Looking to stop that is Pablo Lopez. Lopez had a pretty solid season with a 3.66 ERA and was third in strikeouts. He had a bit of an inconsistent season with 20 of 32 games being quality starts. When he was on, he was very good, but when he was off, it got ugly quickly. His ERA is also higher at home than on the road so that could come into play here. He pitched against the Blue Jays once this season in Minnesota as he allowed four earned runs over 5.2 innings.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the game be low-scoring, but I'm not playing that. Instead, I like the Blue Jays to win this game. I think they have the better and more consistent pitcher in Gausman. I also think their offense will respond better to the playoffs than the Twins. It seems improbable, but I do think they end up losing their 19th straight playoff game as the Blue Jays take the opener.

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