Toronto Blue Jays vs Oakland Athletics Prediction, 5/5/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Toronto Blue Jays vs Oakland Athletics

Date: Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Location: RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland, CA

TV: NBC Sports California

Odds/Point Spread: Toronto (+111) Oakland (-121)

Chris Bassitt and the Oakland Athletics (18-12, 1st in AL West) host the Toronto Blue Jays (14-13, 2nd in AL East) at RingCentral Coliseum on Wednesday. The Blue Jays open this contest at +111 while the Athletics are coming in at -121. The total is set at 8.5. The expected starting pitchers will be Robbie Ray and Chris Bassitt.

The Blue Jays have hit 30 doubles as a team and have hit 38 balls out of the park. Toronto is slugging .400 and have been called out on strikes 235 times, while taking a walk on 85 occasions. As a squad, the Toronto Blue Jays are putting up 4.6 runs per game, which is 14th in MLB. They have accounted for 115 RBI's and 214 hits for the season, and their team batting average is sitting at .238. They have notched a total of 124 runs scored and have an OBP of .310.

The Blue Jays are sitting with a team earned run average of 3.50 on the year (6th in baseball), and they have rung up 232 hitters. Their pitching staff has walked 74 players from the other team and their FIP sits at 4.09 as a team so far this year. Their strikeout to walk ratio is 3.14 and their pitching staff has recorded a WHIP of 1.22. Blue Jays pitchers have surrendered 33 long balls in addition to 102 runs (5th in baseball).

The Blue Jays have dispatched 101 relief pitchers to the hill on the campaign. The relief pitchers have inherited 52 runners this year and 25.0% of those runners earned a run for their team. They have 7 saves over the course of the season and have blown 1 of 8 save chances. The Blue Jays bullpen have a save percentage of 87.5% and has come into the game in 27 save situations. The relief pitchers have a total of 17 holds on the campaign (11th in MLB). Blue Jays relief pitchers have entered the contest with opponents on base 36 times as well as having 39 appearances in high leverage situations.

The Blue Jays have turned 69.8% of baseballs in play into outs out of 2,112 innings on the diamond, which has them ranked 18th in baseball. The Toronto Blue Jays have 704 putouts over the course of the season, as well as 261 assists and 17 errors. Their fielding percentage is at .983 which puts them in 18th in pro baseball, and have earned 184 double plays.

Ray has taken the ball for 865 innings and has totaled 1,062 punch outs in his career. Ray (50-52 career record) has earned a FIP of 4.14 while he has faced 3,738 hitters in the majors. His ERA is 4.22 (406 ER's allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.379. He has given up 783 base hits (8.1 hits per 9 innings) and has 410 walks.

Oakland has compiled 39 HRs so far this year as well as 119 runs batted in. They have 38 doubles, while getting a free base 105 times as well as racking up 127 runs. The Oakland Athletics hold an OBP of .309 and a team batting average of .221 for the season. The Athletics have a team SLG% of .392 and they average 4.23 runs per game (15th in MLB). They have struck out on 265 occasions (10th in baseball) and have totaled 213 base knocks.

The Oakland pitching staff have allowed 132 runs this season while having a team ERA of 4.13 (121 earned runs relinquished). They have yielded 33 long balls and they allow 4.50 runs per 9 innings (18th in the league). The Athletics have a WHIP of 1.330 in addition to having a FIP of 3.94 as a unit for the season. Their strikeout to walk ratio comes in at 2.94 (253 strikeouts vs 86 bases on balls). They are sitting at 29th in baseball as a staff in total hits surrendered with 265.

Sitting with 21 save situations, the Athletics have earned 13 holds and also 0 blown saves. Oakland has had bullpen pitchers take the mound in 8 save chances and they have walked away with 8 saves. Their bullpen pitchers have come in 27 times in high leverage situations and on 22 occasions with runners on. Oakland bullpen pitchers hold an inherited score rate of 40.0% out of 35 inherited base runners. They are currently ranked 2nd in baseball with a save percentage of 100.0%, and they have dispatched 100 relief pitchers onto the diamond so far this season.

In 2,376 innings on the field, the Athletics have earned a efficiency on defense of 68.0% (27th in baseball). The Oakland Athletics have twisted 19 double plays and own a fielding percentage of .986 (7th in the majors). The Athletics have 244 assists, 15 errors and have a total of 792 putouts so far this year.

Bassitt (21-23 career mark) has a 3.62 earned run average while giving up 8.3 hits per nine innings. He has a K/BB ratio of 2.51 and he has gone up against 1,857 hitters during his MLB career. He has given up a total of 174 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 1.276 and a FIP of 4.0. During his MLB career, Bassitt has given up 400 base hits and he has 381 strikeouts in 432 innings pitched.

Who will win tonight's baseball game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Oakland (-121)

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