One of the Toronto Blue Jays' hottest hitters finds his way onto my betslip today.
The pregame narrative: Ernie Clement is on a tear and is a nice pick to top his bases prop against a very beatable pitcher. Additionally, I like the over in a pitching matchup that lacks any sort of high-end talent.
Check out the best Blue Jays picks vs. the Athletics on Aug. 10.
Blue Jays picks vs. Athletics
Go to full Blue Jays/Athletics MLB betting markets.
Best Bet: Clement over 1.5 total bases (+155)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is firmly in the spotlight for Toronto and rightfully so.
He's top 20 in home runs (23), RBI (76), average (.323), on-base percentage (.395), SLG (.551) and OPS (.946). Those numbers earn you some MVP buzz most years, but not in 2024 with Aaron Judge dominating the race.
Other than that, there have been few bright spots on this squad, but Clement is one of them.
The versatile infielder is batting an impressive .274 on the campaign and those numbers are rising sharply. He's batting .300 over the last month of the season with six doubles.
He's staring down a plus matchup on Saturday against Oakland starter Osvaldo Bido.
Bido pairs a 4.64 ERA with a 4.08 FIP and he's struggling ahead of this contest. His last two contests have turned out poorly as he's allowed nine runs and a .316 batting average across his 9.2 innings pitched.
Clement delivered three hits in the series opener against Oakland and I expect another strong showing on Saturday.
Key stat: Clement has usurped 1.5 total bases in seven of his last 14 games.
Quick pick
Over 9 runs (-103): A Bido vs. Yariel RodrÃguez matchup doesn't scream pitcher's duel.
Bido isn't pitching well ahead of this contest and his year-long numbers aren't blowing anybody away. The over on this total has cashed in three of his last four outings and six of 10 overall this season.
The Athletics and their opponents are averaging 10.5 runs per game when he takes the mound.
Yariel Rodriguez's numbers aren't bad at all (3.86 ERA, 3.69 FIP) but there's a caveat; he doesn't typically pitch deep into games.
Rodriguez has only pitched past the fifth inning in three of his last 11 starts. That means Toronto typically has to turn to its bullpen when he's on the mound and that's a major problem.
The Blue Jays have the second-worst bullpen ERA (5.11) in all of baseball, only placing above the lowly Colorado Rockies (5.56).
Toronto has pushed or gone over this total in four of his last five starts.
Picks made at 10:45 a.m. on 08/10/24.
