Get Tickets Information for Blue Jays vs Rays – 8/18/2026

Toronto Blue Jays

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Tampa Bay Rays

Toronto Blue Jays Insights

• Jose Soriano – Over/Under 4.5 Strikeouts (-115/-115)
  Considering that groundball pitchers have a big edge over groundball hitters, Jose Soriano and his 55.4% underlying GB% (according to the leading projection system, THE BAT) finds himself in a favorable spot in today’s game squaring off against 3 opposing GB hitters.
  Explain: This mostly has to do with the way the hitter’s swing plane interacts with the pitch trajectory, and it can create boosted performance across all categories and hidden value few are considering.
• Kazuma Okamoto – Over/Under 0.5 Total Bases (-180/+140)
  Kazuma Okamoto has struggled with his Barrel% lately; his 12.2% seasonal rate has lowered to 0% in the past two weeks’ worth of games.
  Explain: Barrel% measures how often a player hits the ball at the optimal exit velocity and launch angle and is a terrific measure of underlying power.
• Alejandro Kirk – Over/Under 1.5 Total Bases (+140/-180)
  Alejandro Kirk has a 97th percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (37.7%) and will have a big advantage hitting them in the direction of the league’s 5th-shallowest RF fences today.
  Explain: This player’s skill set matches up particularly well with the park he’s in today, which may lead to better-than-usual performance.

Tampa Bay Rays Insights

• Nick Martinez – Over/Under 3.5 Strikeouts (-115/-115)
  It may come as a surprise, but fastballs are generally a pitcher’s least effective pitch. Nick Martinez has gone to his non-fastballs 5% less often this season (57.3%) than he did last year (62.3%).
  Explain: Fastballs are the one easiest pitches to hit and generate few strikeouts, so a pitcher who begins to use his fastball more often will likely be less effective than he used to be.
• Liam Hicks – Over/Under 0.5 Total Bases (-210/+160)
  Liam Hicks has been cold in recent games, with his seasonal exit velocity of 84.9-mph dropping to 81.2-mph in the last two weeks’ worth of games.
  Explain: Hitting the ball hard increases the chances of either a home run or the ball landing in fair territory for a hit before a fielder can get to it.
• Via the leading projection system (THE BAT X), the offense with the least strikeout-prone lineup in today’s games is the Tampa Bay Rays with a 19% underlying K%.
  Explain: THE BAT X analyzes each player in today’s specific lineup to figure out which teams have the least inherent strikeout potential for the opposing pitcher.

Betting Trends

• Toronto Blue Jays – Moneyline (+120)
  The Toronto Blue Jays have hit the Moneyline in 10 of their last 16 games (+7.45 Units / 42% ROI)