I swear this will be an unbiased preview of tonight’s AL East tilt between the Blue Jays and the Rays. However, full disclosure, I am probably the biggest Toronto fan you’ll ever meet in your life. I say this not to dissuade you from reading this article, but only to give some context to my following statement. I hated Tropicana Field. In fact, I think if you polled all Jays fans about their least favorite place to play, they’d all echo that sentiment.
As such, it’s a bit of a breath of fresh air for the team to head to Florida, knowing they’ll be taking the field at George M. Steinbrenner Field. It’s also a bit of fresh air that Toronto is back above .500 for the first time in over a month, after sweeping a three-game series against the floundering Padres.
Can the Jays stay hot? Or will the team’s bats cool at the hands of Drew Rasmussen? Let’s break it all down with some odds and lines on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Blue Jays vs. Rays prediction, preview
Rasmussen still isn’t all the way back from his litany of injuries — he’s yet to throw even 90 pitches in an outing so far in 2025 — yet the results have been quite good for the right-hander and he’s arguably on the heels of his best start of the young season. To wit, Rasmussen tossed six scoreless innings this past Saturday in Miami. That performance lowered his ERA to a sterling 2.93 across 46.0 innings. All of Rasmussen’s ERA estimators are roughly a run higher than that, as you’d expect with a career-low .246 BABIP and a career-high 83.3% strand rate, but for a man who has barely pitched at the MLB level since 2022, this has been about as good as Kevin Cash could hope for.
Speaking of people who have not seen a major league mound all that much since 2022, let’s talk some Eric Lauer. The left-hander has only thrown 12.0 innings for Toronto this season, but he’s looked good doing it, maintaining a 2.25 ERA and a 2.81 xERA thanks primarily to a noteworthy 31.8% strikeout rate. It’s been Lauer’s first taste of MLB action since a pretty underwhelming showing with the KBO’s KIA Tigers in 2024.
While the presence of the 29-year-old might not inspire a ton of confidence, Lauer’s handedness plays a key role for the Jays on Friday, as Tampa has been completely unable to hit left-handed pitching. Like, it’s been disastrously awful. The Rays are batting .205 with a .095 ISO and a 71 wRC+ within the split. Tampa simply employs more dangerous LHBs than RHPs in 2025. This isn’t rocket science.
Blue Jays vs. Rays pick, best bet
Though the Blue Jays have been hitting the ball incredibly well so far in May — they rank third in wRC+ in the month (121) — yet my gut feeling for this contest is a low-scoring script. Well, low-ish. Between how consistent Rasmussen has fared in 2025 and the Rays’ putrid numbers against southpaws, I think runs will be at a premium.
Best Bet: Under 9 (-118)
The Rays have posted a 71 wRC+ against LHPs so far in 2025.
Strong Lean: Blue Jays ML (+120)
Toronto’s won eight of its last 12 games and has the third-highest wRC+ in the month of May.
