The Toronto Blue Jays aim for a third consecutive win over the spiralling Athletics on Saturday.
The pregame narrative: Toronto’s offence has exploded for 23 runs through two games in this series. A struggling Gunnar Hoglund takes the bump for the Athletics, and that could mean a huge night for a pair of streaking hitters in Addison Barger and Ernie Clement.
Check out my Blue Jays vs. Athletics prop picks on May 31.
Blue Jays picks vs. Athletics
Best Bet: Barger over 1.5 total bases (+128)
Barger has found his groove, and I’m looking for him to make noise against the reeling Athletics.
Toronto’s third baseman is putting his barrel to the ball at an impressive clip. He’s hitting .294 in May with a .494 SLG as the month comes to a close.
He’s not showing any signs of slowing down, either, as he’s batting .342 in 11 games since May 20 with a .526 SLG.
Barger’s production is no fluke, as his advanced numbers prove that he’s been among the best hitters in the bigs this year:
- 86th-percentile xwOBA (.379)
- 91st-percentile xBA (.300)
- 87th-percentile xSLG (.526)
- 99th-percentile average exit velocity (95.2 mph)
He is absolutely crushing the ball, making him a threat to top this prop in just one at-bat.
The one knock against Barger is that he’s typically hitting in the bottom half of Toronto’s lineup, but I expect everybody to get enough plate appearances against an unimpressive Hoglund.
Key stat: Barger has cashed this prop in four of his last five games.
Quick pick
Clement over 1.5 total bases (+138): Clement, like Barger, is also seeing his fair share of success at the dish.
The infielder is batting .298 with a .457 SLG in May, and is only heating up as the calendar nears June.
Clement has nine hits in his last four games and has topped this line in each of his last two outings.
Hitting for power will never be his game, but Clement should see some nice pitches to hit against a pitcher who is throwing plenty of those.
Hoglund enters Saturday’s game sporting a brutal 5.13 ERA and 5.40 FIP. A quick trip to his Baseball Savant page shows he’s earned every bit of his underwhelming 2025 campaign:
- 9th-percentile xERA (5.45)
- 14th-percentile xBA (.284)
- 4th-percentile average exit velocity (92.2 mph)
- 6th-percentile barrel rate (13.6%)
Although Clement doesn’t typically bring the boom, Hoglund’s propensity for ceding hard contact could allow him to swat one for extra bases in this contest.
Athletics vs. Blue Jays picks made at 10:35 a.m. ET on 05/31/2025.
Stevie’s an avid NFL, NHL, and tennis bettor who has no problem talking himself into the underdog. His previous stops include Yahoo! Sports Canada and Toronto Metropolitan University, where he received a degree in Sport Media.