Blue Jays vs Yankees Pick: Fried Faces Gausman in Gm 1 of a Doubleheader (Apr 27)

• In our Blue Jays vs Yankees pick, we dig into New York ace Max Fried trying to lead his club to a rebound win over Toronto’s Kevin Gausman
• This is the first game of a doubleheader, making up Saturday’s rainout
• New York is in flux at closer with marquee offseason acquisition Devin Williams pitching terribly
• The Blue Jays’ win on Friday broke a 5-game skid

Blue Jays Need To Build on Comeback Win

The Blue Jays took advantage of struggling Yankees closer (for the moment) Devin Williams and pulled out a 9th-inning comeback win. Had they lost, it is conceivable that trigger-happy team president Mark Shapiro might start looking to replace manager John Schneider.

For the first game of the doubleheader, Kevin Gausman takes the hill. The veteran righty has been consistently good all season. He has pitched at least 6 innings in every start but one. And in that game, he threw 5.1 innings. His ERA is 3.16, he has allowed 21 hits in 31.2 innings, and surrendered 11 earned runs.

Aaron Judge has hammered Gausman in his career. He has 13 hits in 39 at-bats and 6 home runs. Paul Goldschmidt is 7 for 12 against him with a homer. Cody Bellinger is 2 for 18. Anthony Volpe is 2 for 17, but the hits were a double and a home run.

Toronto is waiting for Anthony Santander to live up to his contract. He’s batting .182 with 2 homers, and a .537 OPS.

New York Has Lost 3 of 4 and Needs Answers With Williams

The Yankees are in first place, but that is a byproduct of the mediocrity of the AL East and not because they have been overwhelmingly good. Judge is carrying them on his back. His numbers are out of a video game where someone is cheating.

He leads MLB with a 2.2 bWAR, 40 hits, a .408 batting average, .508 on-base percentage, .714 slugging, and 1.223 OPS. He leads the AL in RBIs and runs. The rest of the lineup is not pulling their weight, except for Ben Rice, Goldschmidt, and Trent Grisham.

Max Fried takes the mound for the Yankees. He has taken over as the ace with the season-ending injury to Gerrit Cole and has been better than Cole could have hoped to be.

Fried has a 1.42 ERA, has given up 5 earned runs in 31.2 innings, and has struck out 30. Santander is 2 for 5 against him with a home run. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is 2 for 8 with a double. Bo Bichette is 1 for 5. Alejandro Kirk is 1 for 3.

Williams is a problem. He has an 11.25 ERA, and even in games where he’s managed to lock down the saves, he’s been shaky. He’s walked 7 in 8 innings and given up 10 earned runs. A reliever with a bWAR of -0.8 after a month is impressive, and not in a good way.

The fans are calling for Luke Weaver to replace him. They may have a point.

Blue Jays vs Yankees Pick: Hunch Pick Says Fried Takes His First Loss

Fried has been an early Cy Young Award favorite, but Gausman has been plenty good. Except for Judge, most of the Yankees’ lineup is not hitting. Toronto will take Game 1 of the doubleheader.