{"id":344745,"date":"2025-05-07T12:23:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T16:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/?p=344745"},"modified":"2025-05-07T12:23:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T16:23:17","slug":"blue-jays-picks-vs-angels-may-7-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/blue-jays-picks-vs-angels-may-7-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays vs. Angels prop picks May 7: Bet on Springer to rake vs. Kikuchi’s Halos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For the first time since his Toronto Blue Jays tenure, Yusei Kikuchi<\/a> faces his former club on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pregame narrative:<\/strong> Kikuchi is 0-4 through seven starts but has a chance to lift the Los Angeles Angels to a series win tonight. On Toronto’s side, a loss would sink the team to four games below .500 for the first time this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m backing Kikuchi, Logan O’Hoppe<\/a> and George Springer<\/a> in my Blue Jays picks vs. the Angels on May 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blue Jays picks vs. Angels<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Best Bet: Springer over 1.5 bases (+150)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Springer officially entered a new phase of his career this season, shifting out of the leadoff spot after more than 1,000 starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He’s a heart-of-the-order bat now, and based on how he’s mashing the baseball, you might think that’s where he’s belonged this whole time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Springer has a .960 OPS through 32 games, which is his best mark since 2019 \u2014 a season where offence exploded due to unintentional alterations to the baseballs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Baseball Savant, Springer has been adept at going after the right pitches (97th-percentile chase rate) and teeing off on them (96th-percentile launch angle sweet-spot rate).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Springer went 2-for-4 with a home run in the series opener last night. He’s now 5-for-13 with three extra-base hits to start the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m man enough to admit I thought Springer was cooked last season, when he posted his first sub-100 OPS+ of his career as a 34-year-old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the bounce-back has been superb, and it’s desperately needed on a Toronto team hurting for offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Springer has been punishing lefties so far in 2025, posting a .308\/.441\/.808 slash line in 35 plate appearances. One good swing is likely all it’ll take for Springer to go over 1.5 bases on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In past matchups against Kikuchi, Springer is 7-for-16 (.438) with a triple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key stat:<\/strong> Springer has cashed this bet in 16 of 32 games. He’s averaging 1.7 bases per game this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embed: #113522<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n