The Toronto Blue Jays are looking to make up ground in an American League East race where every team is above .500 and will look to avoid stubbing their toe on Friday when the Oakland Athletics come to town.
Oakland Athletics vs. Toronto Blue Jays (-310, 9)
A man familiar with Oakland goes for the Blue Jays on Thursday as Chris Bassitt, who spent six seasons in Oakland, gets the start and is looking to shake off at least five runs in three of his past five starts.
Overall for the season, despite his ERA climbing to 4.18, Bassitt still has an even higher fielding independent than ERA with his FIP at 4.99, allowing 1.5 home runs per nine innings to go with 7.8 strikeouts to three walks per nine innings.
While Oakland is generating the fewest runs per game, their poor offensive numbers are due in large part to the ballpark they play in with Ring Coliseum suppressing offense. That’s shown by the Athletics averaging 3.05 runs per game at home with a .207 batting average: no other team is averaging fewer than 3.5 runs per game or a batting average below .222 at home this season.
On the road, Oakland’s offensive numbers elevate to averaging just over four runs per game and entered Thursday with a .236 team batting average on the road.
Athletics starter James Kaprielian will take all the support he can get as his ERA is 6.38 this season with 1.3 home runs and 4.9 walks per nine innings allowed. Behind Kaprielian is a bullpen that is last in the league in ERA at 5.51, which is a full half-point higher than any other team in the league.
While Kaprielian has allowed three runs or fewer in four straight starts, three of those starts came at home and his numbers on the road balloon to a walks per nine innings rate of 7.3 with a 7.27 ERA.
The Blue Jays have been close to league average this season in many offensive categories, ranking 15th in runs per game and 14th in home runs despite many expecting more entering the season.
With a lot of familiarity for the Athletics with a struggling Bassitt going for Toronto coupled with the Athletics being last in the league in road ERA at 6.90 entering Thursday, both lineups will open this series with a bang on Friday.
The Play: Athletics vs. Blue Jays Over 9
