It has been a year of surprises in the American League. Initially, the Cleveland Guardians and Seattle Mariners were ignored in the future market. In comparison, the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays face plenty of baseball betting odds skepticism too. But all four teams have had their tickets punched for the American League wild card round. Cleveland has used its old formula of strong pitching. Tampa Bay continues to excel with analytics. Also excelling on the mound is Seattle. By contrast, the Blue Jays powered up with strong run production.
2022 American League Wild Card Playoffs
| Date and Time: | Playoffs Start October 7, 2022 |
|---|---|
| 2022 American League Wild Card TV Coverage: | ESPN |
| 2022 American League Wild Card Odds: | Click Here |
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Cleveland Guardians
On the whole, the Rays are a remarkable outlier story. Tampa Bay has a low payroll. Their revenue is among the weakest in baseball. And they have no fan support. Yet the Rays are in the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. This anonymous franchise relies on pitching for its success. To show, the Rays rank 4th for staff earned run average. Tampa Bay’s bullpen is a sportsbook asset with a rank of 7th for earned run average.
One of the many interesting characteristics of the Rays is how they win. Consider Tampa Bay ranked 19th for quality starts and 21st for run production. The Rays ranked 25th for home runs. Further, the Rays play in the AL East with financial heavyweights like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays. The top two home run hitters for the Rays were Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes, with 20 each.
First place in the American League Central went to the Guardians. It was supposed to go to the Twins or White Sox. Cleveland ranked 6th for staff earned run average and 5th for quality starts. Of great concern is that the Guardians ranked only 29th for home runs. Jose Ramirez powered to 29 home runs and 124 runs batted in. Meanwhile, Cal Quantrill was a dominant starter at 15-5 with a 3.38 earned run average.
Seattle Mariners vs. Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays ranked 4th for run production, 1st for batting average, 2nd for OPS, and 7th for home runs. Also, Toronto ranked 6th for quality starts. The only worry is a bullpen that ranked 13th for earned run average. Vladimir Guerrero continues to ascend as a superstar. In sum, Guerrero hit 32 home runs with 89 runs and 97 runs batted in. Kevin Gausman and Alek Manoah lead a strong starting staff.
Seattle emerged out of nowhere to make the playoffs for the first time since 2001. A pitching staff that ranked 7th for earned run average and 3rd for quality starts carried the team. Namely, Eugenio Suarez supplied much of the offensive production. Suarez hit 31 home runs and 87 runs batted in. Yet another team strength is a bullpen that ranked 6th for earned run average. Logan Gilbert led the starting rotation with a 3.20 earned run average.
2022 American League Wild Card SBG Free Picks
In this situation, the Cleveland Guardians are a complete team with the MLB odds against Tampa Bay. And the Toronto Blue Jays will have the best player, Vladimir Guerrero, in their series with the Mariners.
2022 American League Wild Card SBG Best Bets: Cleveland Guardians and Toronto Blue Jays.