Free Pick | MLB | Thursday | May 23

#909 Toronto Blue Jays (Gausman) -105 over Detroit Tigers (Flaherty) 5:40 PM CT

Given how tough the AL East is, a marginal 22-26 start for Toronto has felt even worse. The Jays have not hit up to the expectations of the lineup, but the pitching staff has been solid, including allowing five or fewer runs in eight consecutive games on the current 4-4 run. Kevin Gausman hasn’t matched his great results of the past two seasons so far, but his FIP is 3.49 despite his 4.89 ERA as he hasn’t regressed, he has simply had some tough luck in the first two months with a whopping .369 BABIP that towers over his career average. Gausman has much better numbers in road starts this season and he has allowed one or zero runs in five different starts already this season, still possessing the potential for a dominant outing. While the AL Central has been tougher than expected this season, Detroit has hung around with a 23-26 start to the season. The Tigers are only 10-13 at home and a perfect record vs. the White Sox has helped the cause. After a 17-13 start through April, Detroit is only 6-13 in May as the prospects of a competitive season may be slipping away. Detroit has been held to four or fewer runs in seven of the past 10 games and the bullpen has been a disaster of late with a 6.29 ERA in the past 10 games. Jack Flaherty has pitched well for the Tigers with a career high K/9 so far, but he hasn’t pitched well at Comerica Park and he has only one win on the season, a road win in his last start in Arizona. Flaherty has been consistently mediocre allowing at least two runs in seven of his last eight starts and he has been a home run risk. Recent pitching injuries have put further strain on the bullpen for the Tigers and taking a four-game slide at the end of a road trip with no off day may not be an ideal path for the Tigers to play well Thursday, especially after getting a combined total of just over nine innings from its last three starters.