Kansas City Royals vs. Toronto Blue Jays Prediction: Can Alek Manoah Bounce Back?

Kansas City Royals vs. Toronto Blue Jays Prediction: Can Alek Manoah Bounce Back?

The Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays meet in game three of a four-game series tonight from Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. The series is split so far, as the Royals took game one 9-5 before the Blue Jays tied the series up last night with a 4-1 win. Tonight, the ace Alek Manoah will be back on the bump for the Blue Jays. Can he bounce back from his first start?

Kansas City Royals vs. Toronto Blue Jays Prediction

Alek Manoah opened up the season for the Jays as the opening-day starter. Manoah was coming off an incredible 2022 season, posting a 16-7 record with a 2.24 ERA in 31 starts. Manoha only gave up over three runs six times all season in his 31 starts.

Those stats earned him the spot as the Jays' ace, but his opening-day start didn't go as planned. Manoah struggled, giving up five runs on just 3.1 innings of work. He gave up nine hits and walked two, and he couldn't make it to the fifth. That was surely not the best start for the ace, but the Jays did somehow end up actually winning the game 10-9.

I think Manoah will bounce back from opening-day struggles. In the five starts, Manoah gave up 4+ runs last season; he came back with a quality start every single time. In fact, the same followed in 2021. He had four starts in 2021 with 4+ runs allowed, and he came back with a quality start each start after that season as well.

Manoah has been a bounce-back pitcher in his career thus far, and the Royals are a good team to bounce back against. Manoah has three career starts against the Royals, and in those three starts, he has allowed one run in 20 innings of work for an unreal .4 ERA. It hasn't been luck, either, as his WHIP is a low .8 against the Royals. The Blue Jays won all three games by multiple runs as well.

The Royals have not looked very good to open the season. After getting swept to start the season against the Twins, the Royals were able to find their first win before losing again yesterday, bringing their record to 1-4 on the season. In their four losses, they have put up a combined five runs. Aside from their offensive explosion in game one of the series, the Royals' bats have struggled. Now, they will have to try to find offense against a guy they haven't been able to hit at all.

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On the other side, the Royals start Zack Greinke, who had a decent opening start, going 5.1 innings against the Twins with two earned runs, but the Royals still lost 0-2. It feels like that will be the theme of the Royals this season, losing low-scoring games with a lack of offense. Still, while Greinke has been a good starter at home for the Royals, the Jays have excellent numbers off him. The Jays are a combined .318 against Greinke with a .842 OPS.

With Manoah struggling in his first start of the season, I really like him to bounce back against an uninspiring lineup. He has dominated the Royals in his career, and that should continue tonight. On the other hand, the Jays have good numbers off Greinke, and the Jays' offense has looked great to start the season. I'm on the Jays to lead after five innings tonight.

Kansas City Royals vs. Toronto Blue Jays Pick

Pick: Blue Jays First Five -.5 @ (-130) DraftKings has the best odds; click here to bet

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Royals vs. Blue Jays Start Time, Where to Watch, and Odds

• Date: Wednesday, April 5, 2023
• Game Time: 7:40 pm ET
• Where to Watch: MLB Extra Innings

Click here for Royals vs. Blue Jays odds