Blue Jays Rolling the Dice, Starting a Bullpen Pitcher for Game 4

Posted on: October 8, 2025, 01:54h. 

Last updated on: October 8, 2025, 02:47h.

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  • The Toronto Blue Jays are forced to start bullpen pitchers for Wednesday’s ALDS Game 4
  • The NY Yankees are coming off a huge Game 3 lift following a dramatic Aaron Judge homerun
  • The Yankees are the betting favorite for Game 4 

It was a head scratcher when the Toronto Blue Jays submitted their 26-man roster for the American League Division Series (ALDS) against the NY Yankees – three starting pitchers for a best-of-five series. That included leaving one surefire Hall of Famer – Max Scherzer – and three other accomplished starters – Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios, and Bowden Francis – off the roster.

Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees reacts after hitting a game-tying, three-run home run in the fourth inning of Game 3 of the ALDS against the Toronto Blue Jays Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. (Image: Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

The Jays loaded up instead with 10 relievers, including four southpaw bullpen pitchers. Maybe that’s what the statisticians and analytics brainiacs told the coaches they needed to do to best deal with a left-handed-laden Yankees hitting lineup while trying to build a scenario where the team could pitch around MVP candidate Aaron Judge when need be.

Judge is arguably the best hitter in the world, and fisted a 100-mph fastball thrown a good three baseballs inside the plate 400 feet to deep left on Tuesday night, ringing it off the top of the foul pole to tie Game 3 in the fourth inning 6-6.

That sent 47,399 Yankee Stadium fans into a lather, neutering any confidence advantage the Jays had built, mostly off a Vlad Guerrero Jr. first-inning home run, and a 6-1 lead in a potentially series-clinching game. As Jeff Passan wrote on ESPN, Judge had never hit a pitch 100 mph or faster for a home run.

And tonight, in Game 4, you’re going to have four very good Blue Jays’ starters watching from the bench.

Jays are the Game 4 Underdogs

The Jays also had holes punched in their vaunted defense on Tuesday night, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa booting a ground ball to second in the first, and a wind-blown fly ball dropped by third baseman Addison Barger in the fourth inning. Both plays helped the powerful Yankees, who would score on both errors.

Jays Go With Bullpen Starters

Following Tuesday night’s game, the Jays are in the unenviable situation of having to roll out a staff of bullpen pitchers for Game 4 with all the momentum now on the Yankees’ side.

While they’re still up 2-1 in the series, all of this has rattled bettors. There’s not a lot of confidence when the Jays are forced to start Louis Varland tonight, after he pitched an inning last night in which he gave up the Judge home run in the fourth, followed later by a laser beam homer to right field by Jazz Chisholm Jr., that salted the Yankees’ 9-6 win.

Risky Business

“It’s a bit of a scratching head decision going with Varland to start and a bullpen game, you must assume [Toronto Blue Jays Manager John] Schneider is giving him the chance to redeem Game 3’s performance. It’s a risky move and I am not quite sure bettors agree,” said Phill Gray, the former head of trading operations at Sports Interaction.

Yankee bats rank higher than the Jays in every category, so that Over 8.5 -108 might be a great wager tonight,” Gray added. “Can the Jays get to rookie Cam Schlittler to offset their pitching woes? He was awfully dominant in the wildcard game [against the Red Sox last week] and could go deep in innings pitched, staying away from the Yankees’ own bullpen issues.”

Toronto is +143 to win straight up at the time of this writing, and that’s a number that could go higher as game time approaches.

How Do Betting Odds Look for Game 4?

Gray said the consensus among bettors shows 79% of bets and 58% of the money are on the Yankees to cover the spread on Wednesday night, while 52% of bets and 78% of the money on the moneyline is on the Yankees to win straight up.

With Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler starting tonight, ESPN BET has the Yankees at -180 on the moneyline and the Jays at +150. The O/U of 8.5 is -110, with the spread at Jays +1.5 (-145) and the Yankees -1.5 (+120). ESPN Bet says 56.3% of its bets and 65.8% of handle are on the Yankees moneyline at -180, while 82.7% of bets and 91.6% of the handle are on over 8.5.

Meanwhile, the Mariners are in Detroit, up 2-1 in their series with the Tigers. That game starts at 3:08 p m EST (Mariners -108, Tigers -108, at FanDuel) while the Cubs, down 2-0 to the Brewers, play at home at 5:08 pm (Brewers -108, Tigers -112 at DraftKings), and the Phillies look to stave off elimination, down 2-0, are in Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers at 9:08 pm EST (Dodgers -186, Phillies +151 at DraftKings).

The first pitch for the Jays-Yankees is at 7:08 pm EST.