The race for the AL East went down to the end between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays. The two squads ended up tied, with the Jays securing the No. 1 seed based on the tiebreaker. That forced New York into a Wild Card matchup with another divisional foe, the Boston Red Sox. Behind a historic performance from rookie Cam Schlitter, New York advanced to set up a battle between the teams with the two best records in the AL.
The Blue Jays open as -126 Moneyline favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Yankees are priced as -107 underdogs, while the total is set at seven runs. Let’s get into my top player props for Game 1 between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees.
Best Blue Jays vs. Yankees player props
Kevin Gausman Under 15.5 Outs Recorded (-101)
Facing this Yankees lineup is never an easy task for any pitcher. Kevin Gausman has his work cut out for him, and that hasn’t always gone well for Toronto’s big right-hander. And he’s got plenty of players to fear in this lineup.
Six different batters in New York’s lineup have a career OPS of 1.000 or better against Gausman: Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Paul Goldschmidt, Ryan McMahon, Amed Rosario, and Jose Caballero. It’ll be interesting to see which of the last four batters are in the lineup since Goldschmidt and Rosario usually platoon against left-handers, and Caballero often rotates with McMahon at third base. Regardless, that middle of the order is a problem for Gausman.
With the quick hooks we’ve seen in this postseason, it wouldn’t surprise me to see early damage take Gausman out of this game.
Cody Bellinger Under 0.5 Hits (+146)
You know who hasn’t had any success against Gausman? Cody Bellinger. The Yankees outfielder and former MVP has the worst career OPS of any Yankees regular against Gausman. Bellinger has batted 2-for-25 with nine strikeouts in the course of his career against the splitter merchant.
As the great Mike Krukow says, ownage is ownage. Once a pitcher has that big of an advantage over you, it starts to get in your head and things begin to snowball. Don’t count on much offensive production from Bellinger.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2+ Total Bases (+123)
Everyone on the Blue Jays has limited exposure to Yankees starter Luis Gil. The reigning AL Rookie of the Year has faced Toronto four times in his career. As a result, no Jays hitter has more than eight career at-bats against Gil. But Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is easily the most successful hitter against him.
In a limited sample size, Guerrero is 3-for-7 with two doubles off of Gil. That comes with three walks to only one strikeout. He’s a hitter to be feared, and Gil is right to fear him. But in this playoff environment, Gil will be forced to come into the zone, and Vlad will make him pay.
