MLB Betting Notebook, Odds, and Schedule: Blue Jays Dominating Early All-Star Voting

All-Star game voting is taking place as the MLB season is approaching the midway point. The Blue Jays are dominating the early results of the American League ballot, but do they deserve it? Find out more in our MLB notebook.

Jun 24, 2022 • 10:26 ET • 4 min read
Vladimir Guerrero Jr Teoscar Hernandez Toronto Blue Jays MLB
Photo By - USA TODAY Sports

July is nearly here, and there is a ton going on in Major League Baseball. Canadians have stuffed the ballot box for their team, and it's shown early on as the first update of All-Star Game voting is here. 

Find out about that and more in this week's MLB notebook!

MLB Notebook: June 24-26

Click on each item to read the full update.

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MLB betting news for this weekend

Blue Jays dominating the ASG ballot

The 2022 MLB All-Star Game is set to take place on July 19 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and expect to see a lot of Toronto Blue Jays taking the field. 

Alejandro Kirk has absolutely taken the American League by storm. The 23-year-old has created an absolute logjam at catcher for Toronto, as he's now hitting .307/.395/.487 through 220 plate appearances. Kirk has also struck out just 20 times during that span and unlike others, has still thrived in two-strike counts. 

While both George Springer and especially Alejandro Kirk deserve starting All-Star nods, the same can't be said for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and Springer taking the field in the first inning in Tinseltown.

After finishing runner-up in MVP voting last year, Guerrero hasn't been statistically as good offensively at his position as someone such as Mariners' first baseman Ty France, who plays in a smaller market like Seattle.

While Guerrero has an OPS+ of 143 in what's been considered a "down year" by many, France boasts a slash line of .316/.390/.476 with little protection in the order that, in comparison, Guerrero gets with the likes of Kirk and Teoscar Hernandez. 

The same can be said for Bichette at shortstop, who is only seventh in AL OPS amongst qualified shortstops. Then there's Springer, who despite having a productive season at the leadoff spot for Toronto, shouldn't be a starting outfielder over the likes of a Taylor Ward, Byron Buxton, Kyle Tucker, or even rookie Julio Rodriguez. 

You can't blame Blue Jays fans, however, as this shows how passionate they are about their team. It's also not the first time a fanbase has stuffed the ballots for their team's players. In 2016, the National League consisted of four Chicago Cubs in the starting lineup. In 2015, Kansas City fans took charge. 

This begs the ultimate question — going forward, do we want the MLB All-Star game to be a popularity contest or one that actually rewards players for their quality of play in that particular year? 

If the MLB wants fans to take the MLB game seriously, it might be time for full-time beat writers or simply analytics and computer algorithms to decide who is most deserving to play in the Midsummer Classic. 

Brewers DFA Lorenzo Cain

This year, Lorenzo Cain has hit well below the Mendoza line at .179/.231/.234 in 43 games with the Brewers, with an ugly OPS+ of 32. 

Milwaukee will be going back and forth with the St. Louis Cardinals all season long for the top spot in the NL Central, so Cain's bat (or lack thereof) has been too much of a liability to keep in the lineup.

The Brewers have talented pitching, but their hitting has been their downfall in previous years. In 2022 so far, Milwaukee ranks just 10th in the National League in OPS at .707. The Brew Crew have the fifth-best World Series odds in the NL at +1,300, and are currently tied for first in the division with St. Louis at 40-32.

As a result of Milwaukee being a contender this season, Cain was DFA'd by Milwaukee earlier this week as the Brewers look elsewhere for answers offensively.

It will be interesting to see if any playoff contenders sign Cain to a deal as a fourth outfielder or if he will simply call it a career. He's already won a World Series in 2015 with the Royals, the same year in which he finished third in AL MVP voting. 

Cain also finished Top 10 in NL MVP voting in 2018 and won a Gold Glove in center field the following year. If this is it for the Georgia native, he'll finish with a career slash line of .283/.343/.407 in over 1,000 games played. 

Jeter Downs gets the call

In what seems like premature fashion, the Boston Red Sox called up prospect Jeter Downs earlier this week, despite the shortstop's struggles in the minor leagues. 

The now 23-year-old was listed as a Top 100 prospect according to Baseball America in 2020 and 2021 but hit just .180/.297/.397 at the Triple-A level this year. Named after Derek Jeter, Downs was a piece of the blockbuster Mookie Betts trade that sent himself, Alex Verdugo, and David Price to Boston back in 2020.

Longtime shortstop Xander Bogaerts is a free agent this offseason and contract talks haven't gone smoothly with the Red Sox up until now. Although they have Trevor Story to fall back on at the position for 2023, Downs' panning out in Beantown would be huge for Alex Cora's club if they're to lose Bogaerts in free agency. 

Below is also an interesting theory from former Red Sox third baseman and current NESN analyst Will Middlebrooks, and makes sense considering Boston still has top shortstop prospect Marcelo Mayer in the pipeline. 

Rendon out for the season

Although the Angels have ended their lengthy losing streak, they're still playing .500 ball over their last 10 games and have now lost their everyday third baseman for the remainder of the season. 

After struggling through injuries to begin the season, Anthony Rendon is done for the year as he's set to undergo wrist surgery. You can officially call his seven-year $245 million contract a failure, and it's not the only one that the Angels have made that's backfired hard on them over the past decade. 

In three seasons with the Angels, Rendon has only played in 155 games with a slash line of .252/.359/.421, a massive dropoff from his elite numbers with Nationals from 2017-2019.

The Angels are currently four games under .500. Despite Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani being second and third in current AL MVP odds, they remain five games back of a Wild Card spot. The Halos haven't made the postseason since 2014 when they were swept by the Royals in the ALDS.

Featured MLB games for this weekend

Friday, June 24

Blue Jays at Brewers: Alek Manoah vs. Adrian Houser, 8:10 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, Bally Sports
Astros at Yankees: Justin Verlander vs. Luis Severino, 7:05 p.m. ET, ATTSN-SW, YES

Saturday, June 25 

Rockies at Twins: Antonio Senzatela vs. Chris Archer, 8:10 p.m. ET, FOX
Phillies at Padres: Zach Eflin vs. Blake Snell, 10:10 p.m., NBCS-PHI, Bally Sports

Sunday, June 26

Red Sox at Guardians: Rich Hill vs. Aaron Civale, 1:40 p.m. ET, NESN, Bally Sports
Dodgers at Braves: Tony Gonsolin vs. Spencer Strider, 7:08 p.m. ET, ESPN

Check out the full MLB schedule, matchups, odds, and more!

Latest World Series odds

The odds below are up-to-date within a five-minute delay and reflect the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks. Be sure to compare MLB futures odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.

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