Toronto Blue Jays getting disrespected by U.S. media ahead of playoff series against Yankees
The Toronto Blue Jays have home-field advantage. They also beat the New York Yankees in eight of 13 games this season, including victories in six of seven games against the Yanks at Rogers Centre.
Don’t tell that to U.S. media, who don’t seem to be taking the Blue Jays seriously.
Most U.S. media outlets believe the Yankees will emerge victorious over Toronto during the first-ever meeting between these two teams in the postseason.
On MLB.com, about two-thirds of their writers said that the Yankees will prevail against the Blue Jays, despite being the lower seed. They highlighted Bo Bichette’s absence and the emergence of New York pitcher Camerom Schlittler as factors that could be the difference in the series.
That slant towards the Yankees comes off as tame compared to other outlets.
A panel of five CBS Sports writers all unanimously picked the Yankees to beat the Jays, although all of their writers said the series would go to a decisive Game 5.
“I question the Blue Jays’ ability to get through this round with their pitching issues,” CBS Sports writer Julian McWilliams wrote. “They lack a true ace, and I believe the Yankees will slug enough to get them through and onto the ALCS.”
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There wasn’t much love for the Jays over at ESPN either. Their contributors pointed to the fact that the Yankees’ run differential of +167 dwarfed the Jays’ total of +77.
Over at The Athletic, the official prediction was Yankees in five. Even though they gave the Blue Jays the edge in terms of their bullpen, ball contact and defence, they believe the Yankees’ batting power will propel them to victory.
These predictions from U.S. media are mirrored in betting lines for the series. On both Canadian and American sportsbooks, the Yankees are largely favoured at -150 to win the series, while the Blue Jays’ odds of advancing to the ALCS hover around +130.
New York Post writer Jon Heyman wrote an entire column about how the Yankees are a “completely different team” than the one that struggled against the Blue Jays this season.
Writers at The Post also largely favoured New York, although the two writers who picked Toronto highlighted the one clear advantage.
“Every game is going to come down to a simple question,” Mike Vaccaro of The Post wrote, “whoās at home?”
“The Jays have the extra home game. Thatāll be just enough.”
Do you think the Jays deserve all of this disrespect from the U.S. media? Let us know in the comments.