We’ve got a battle of American League heavyweights on our hands this Saturday. The Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers will go toe-to-toe and throw their best pitching talent out.
All-world hurler Tarik Skubal will face off against a former Cy Young voting fixture in Kevin Gausman. Separated by 2.5 games, every one of these contests between the AL contenders goes a long way towards deciding playoff seeding. It will be a postseason atmosphere Saturday night in Detroit.
Detroit is a -208 home favorite on the DraftKings Sportsbook for Saturday’s game. The total is set at seven runs. Let’s preview this game before getting into my favorite pick.
Blue Jays at Tigers prediction, preview
What can be said about how incredible Tarik Skubal is? Let me attempt to contextualize his greatness.
Last year, Skubal won the Cy Young by netting a pitching triple crown; no AL pitcher had more wins, strikeouts, or a better ERA. That’s a tough bar to set for yourself at 27 years old. What does he do this year? Lower his ERA, lower his WHIP, and have the best FIP in the majors. Most impressive of all, he leads the big leagues in strikeouts and walks allowed per 9 innings. Good luck standing in the box against this guy.
It’s a tall task for Kevin Gausman. He’s no longer the elite pitcher he was from 2021-23, but he remains a quality rotation option. That splitter remains devastating, delivering a 95th percentile off-speed run value. Even without gaudy strikeout totals, he’s missing bats and staying out of big trouble. And when you’re pitching for a team with an offense this hot, that’s all you need to do.
Detroit is asking Skubal to be a stopper in this one. Losers of 11 of their last 12 games, things are slipping away from the Tigers. Meanwhile, Toronto is 7-1 since the All-Star break and has taken the first two games of the series. While it’s tough to pick against the best pitcher in the AL, hot vs. cold to this degree is difficult to ignore.
