Tampa Bay Rays vs Toronto Blue Jays Prediction, Picks, Odds, Injury Report for 3/29/24

Our resident baseball expert Ej Garr split his pair of offers to open the 2024 MLB season on Thursday. Let’s see what Ej predicts for Game 2 of the series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays. His Rays vs Blue Jays prediction and betting picks are available in the article below!

The Toronto Blue Jays marched into Tropicana Field on opening day and left with a victory. The Tampa Bay Rays will need to respond from an 8 – 2 defeat at home to open this American League East 4-game set with the Blue Jays.

Toronto was a considerable underdog in Tampa Bay for the first of 162 games that the 2024 campaign will hold. That is again the case for Game 2 of this AL East battle.

The Rays are calling on Aaron Civale to pick up the pieces from the opening-day defeat against the Jays. They hope he can provide a quality start to open his campaign. Toronto is hurling veteran Chris Bassitt to the bump on Friday night. He is excited to make this start for a few reasons.

For more free baseball tips, visit the bettingexpert community. Fr more expert tips, visit our Expert Insights section.

RAYS VS BLUE JAYS Prediction: Picks and Betting Preview

• Selection: Toronto Blue Jays Moneyline
• Best Odds: 2.10
• Bookmaker: Bet365
• Stakes: 4/10

Odds are available on March 29th, 2024. Odds may now differ.

After another post-season disaster for the Blue Jays in 2023, Toronto responded with an win against Tampa Bay on Thursday. The Blue Jays had to deal with nearly six months of listening to how they flop in the October Playoffs again.

The best way to do that was by hitting the road to start the 2024 MLB season with a win to open this 4-game series against AL East foes Tampa Bay. The Blue Jays open the campaign with three straight road series against Tampa Bay, Houston, and the New York Yankees.

The good news is that the Blue Jays have made the playoffs in three of the last four campaigns. The bad news is that they haven’t won a single post-season game since 2016. And there wasn’t much movement on the Jays’ roster in the off-season.

George Springer is still leading off. The combo of Vladi and Bichette makes the Jays more than a formidable top-3 batting order. The trio combined for four hits, four runs scored, and four RBI on Thursday against the Rays.

Tampa Bay was listed as 1.65 favorites at home to begin the 2024 MLB campaign against the Blue Jays to open this 4-game set. The line setters expect the public to trust Aaron Civale favoured in Game 2 with a 1.80 offer on the Rays Moneyline.

I have one word for you! DON’T! Well, it’s kind of two words because you do not want to bet on the Rays favored at home after that debacle on Thursday. Jose Berrios pitched a nearly flawless 6 innings in Game 1 of the series. Now Chris Bassitt gets his shot at the Rays for Game 2.

Bassitt is still upset that he didn’t get a post-season start last year. But the Jays went 0 – 2 and he never got his chance to compete. Bassitt only lost 8 of his 33 starts in 2023 for the Blue Jays, and he gave the organization 200 innings of support and 16 wins.

I expect Bassitt to keep the Rays bats at bay to open his 2024 ledger. This will give the Jays six solid innings and a similar effort to that of Berrios last night.

Give me the Jays as hungry dogs again, because the Rays didn’t have an impressive Spring Training camp and they looked flat on opening day. My Rays vs Blue Jays prediction is for Toronto to win at 2.10 odds. 

 Rays vs Blue Jays Game Info

• Time: 22:50 UK Time, Friday, March 29
• Location: Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay, FL
• Starting Pitchers: Aaron Civale vs Chris Bassitt
• Moneyline Odds: Tampa Bay 1.80 / Toronto 2.10
• Where to Watch: MLBNetwork

Tampa Bay Rays News, Injury Report, Schedule

Rays starting pitcher Aaron Civale only made 10 starts in the 2023 campaign for the club after spending his first five years in Cleveland. Civale only pitched a total of 6 innings in two starts from Spring Training games, and he gave up 6 earned runs with a straight 9.00 ERA. 

Civale gave up 3 pre-season home runs in only two starts, and yet he is favored to win his first MLB regular season start of 2024.

Yandy Diaz was essentially the only Rays player ready for opening day, as he went 3 for 4 batting leadoff to start his 2024 campaign. Diaz showed some pop in the pre-season with a team-leading 4 home runs, tied with Randy Arozarena.

I don’t have the space to list the entire injury report for the Rays, but let’s say it is rather significant. Wander Franco is on the verge of not only being suspended from baseball, but his legal issues might do more than just damage his playing career. 

Shane McClanahan had the dreaded Tommy John surgery, and he will miss the entire 2024 MLB campaign as a result. I could go on and on so look up their IL to see how bad it is for the Rays entering the new season.

Toronto Blue Jays News, Injury Report, Schedule

The pill to swallow! For the past four years, the Blue Jays have exited the post-season without a win in three playoff appearances. 

Staying healthy this season is of the utmost importance for this aging Jays squad that has dealt with constant failure in October. 

Dan Jansen is the only position player listed on the Blue Jays injury report entering opening week in Tampa Bay. The Jays catcher thumped out 17 HR in 2023, but he should be returning to the lineup sometime next week.

Kevin Gausman is listed as day-to-day with a shoulder issue, and Alex Manoah might not be seen on the mound for a long duration with his shoulder injury.

Tampa Bay Rays vs Toronto Blue Jays H2H

The Jays have, obviously started the season with a win to start the season series against the Rays in AL East play. 

The Rays have won the season series against the Jays in each of the last 6 campaigns. Since 2008, Tampa Bay has won 14 of the last 16-season series against Toronto. The two teams played 13 times in 2023, and the Rays won 7 of those meetings.

Safer Gambling

At bettingexpert, we always take a safe approach to gambling. We’ll never bet more than we can afford or chase losses. For more advice, head to our Safer Gambling hub.