Originally posted on 10/06/2015:

I'm not an expert in baseball, but as a lifelong Jays fan who has attended several games & watched pretty much every televised games this year, I'd advise anyone thinking of taking the Jays at a series price of -235 to seriously reconsider.

Jays are a fastball hitting team... they struggle against pitchers who have a variety of pitches that mix it up, those who have late movement, and what baseball people like to refer to as "backward pitchers." This is the exact reason why Gallardo has had great success against the Jays this year: 2-0, 0.00 ERA. Essentially, the Jays can't hit against pitchers like Tanaka, Estrada, Ryu, etc. Hamels could easily win one for Texas as well. Lastly, Dickey will most likely be starting Game 3 and I don't trust that guy in any game... kunckleballers are an enigma, and quite honestly, I always worry when Dickey is on the mound cause I don't know which Dickey is going to show up - the guy that throws 8 scoreless innings giving up 4 hits, or the guy that gives up 6 runs in 1 inning.

Should the Jays be favored in the series? Absolutely. But not at a price of -235... it's absurd and quite comical they are priced this high. If I wasn't rooting for the Jays, I'd probably make a small play on Texas. I'm hoping the Jays move onto the ALCS, but more importantly, I'm hoping Jacoby spent a great deal of time with the players in the film room on how to approach backward pitchers for the post-season.

Just my 2 cents