MLB Picks & Props for Friday, March 27: Taking Toronto
Written by: Danny Burke
Published: Fri Mar 27, 2026, 11:58 am ET
Read Time: 4 minutes
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Happy Friday, folks! Major League Baseball rolls on after a fun Opening Day. A couple spots stand out on today's slate, so let's dive into my picks and props for March 27.
MLB Picks & Props for Friday, March 27
Robbie Ray Under 6.5 Strikeouts (-145)
Let's take a player prop in the first game of Friday's MLB slate. At 4:45 p.m. ET, the Yankees and Giants square off for the second time after opening the season on Wednesday. Giants left-hander Robbie Ray will look to help his team bounce back from a rough performance, as Logan Webb surrendered six earned runs in a 7-0 loss.
While I don't expect Ray to perform that poorly, I do like him to stay under 6.5 strikeouts. The line is already heavily shaded to the under, but even at -145, there's still value.
Last season, Ray cleared this number in just 10 of 32 starts. He now draws a Yankees lineup that led the league in wRC+ against left-handed pitching (121) and doesn't strike out at an overwhelming rate (23.6%).
At this number, 6.5 feels a bit too steep for Ray in his first outing of the season, so I'll be fading.
Blue Jays -1.5 (+116) vs Athletics
Let's venture north of the border, where the Toronto Blue Jays and Athletics begin their 2026 season.
Kevin Gausman gets the nod for Toronto in their opener. He went 10-11 last season, but still posted a 3.59 ERA, 3.77 xFIP and a 24.4% strikeout rate.
He'll face an Athletics lineup that took a step forward in 2025, posting a .253 average, a .749 OPS and a 105 wRC+. There's some power here, but the bigger concern in this matchup is Oakland's pitching staff.
Luis Severino takes the ball for the Athletics. Last year was his first with the club after a one-year stint with the Mets, and the results were shaky. Across 29 starts, he went 8-11 with a 4.54 ERA and 4.63 xFIP.
He also posted a 10.5% strikeout-to-walk rate (league average was 13.8%) and allowed a 42% hard-hit rate.
Toronto crushed right-handed pitching last season, leading the league with a .266 average, while also ranking top six in OPS (.763) and wRC+ (113).
I'm expecting the Blue Jays offense to show up in a big way here, while Gausman does enough on the mound to keep things in check. That should be enough to push Toronto to cover -1.5 at a solid plus-money price.
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Danny Burke is a betting analyst with a decade of sports media experience. He got his start at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, sharing picks on the local ESPN affiliate. After college, he hosted shows for VSiN in Las Vegas before returning to Chicago to launch 'Rush Hour', the first daily sports betting show from an Illinois casino. He also co-hosted 'Props and Locks' on Fox32’s Bears pregame show and ran 'Bet On, Chicago' on WLS-AM 890.
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