Free MLB Pick and Preview – Yankees at Blue Jays 8-19-08
August 19, 2008
Tuesday we look at an AL East match up that won’t have any playoff implications, but one that should provide us with a solid winner against the sliding Yankees.
New York isn’t yet statistically out of the playoff race, but it would take more than one miracle for them to earn a post-season spot. Not to mention, they just aren’t playing very good baseball. The Yankees have now lost 4 of their last 5 against teams with a winning record. Injuries and/or poor performance from their starting pitching would be the first place I would point to blame for the Yankees’ struggles. One case of this would be tonight’s starter, Darrell Rasner, who the Yankees have not played well behind. New York is just 4-9 in Rasner’s last 13 starts including a 1-6 record when he starts on the road and a 1-5 record if he is starting against a team with a winning record. It’s not that Ranser is a bad pitcher. I think he will eventually mature into a pretty good starter someday, but he’s very inconsistent and, as the numbers indicate, doesn’t exactly inspire production from the Yankee offense.
The other half of this game, the Toronto Blue Jays, don’t really have much to play for either, they are 2 games behind the Yankees in the standings, but they are at least playing well coming into tonight’s game. Toronto has won 5 of their last 6 overall and 4 of 5 against right-handed starters. What I really like about the Blue Jays tonight, however, is their starting pitching. AJ Burnett isn’t exactly having a Cy Young season, but he’s managed 15 wins for an average team, and he’s stayed pretty healthy this year, something that has plagued him in the past. Burnett has been as solid as any pitcher around when he pitches on his home turf, in fact, the Blue Jays are 7-0 in his last 7 starts in Toronto. What’s not to like about that?
The bottom line here is that neither team has a lot of motivation right now, other than trying to finish a little closer to the top of the standings. When we strip away that motivation factor I think you have to then look at starting pitching to be the most important aspect of this game, in which case I will take AJ Burnett over Darrell Rasner 10 times out of 10, at least at these two stages of their careers.
NEW YORK YANKEES @ TORONTO BLUE JAYS
D. Rasner (5-9, 5.18), A. Burnett (15-9, 4.67)
MLB Free Pick for Tuesday: Toronto Blue Jays -125
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