Blue Jays vs. Cardinals prediction and odds for Saturday, April 1

The Blue Jays and Cardinals played a wild Opening Day matchup with Toronto notching a road win, 10-9.

After a Friday off day, the two will meet again in St. Louis with Kevin Gausman taking the mound against talented, yet often injured, Jack Flaherty. Can Toronto improve to 2-0 on the year or will St. Louis avenge its early season loss? Is there something we can take away from the high scoring matchup?

Let's break it all down with our betting preview:

Blue Jays vs. Cardinals odds, run line and total

Blue Jays vs. Cardinals prediction and pick

Flaherty hasn't been able to stay healthy, he has made 23 starts over the last two seasons, and posted a 6.41 ERA in 19.2 innings in Spring Training. However, this is an elite arm that is more than capable of pitching at an All-Star level. Not to mention, he could operate on a short leash on Saturday afternoon with the Blue Jays vaunted offense sitting in the batter's box. Manager Oliver Marmol may turn to his top 10 bullpen quickly in hopes of getting an effective outing out of Flaherty, despite it being short.

Meanwhile, Kevin Gausman starts his 2023 season in hopes of building on a strong 2022. He was one of the most unlucky pitchers in baseball last year, posting a 3.35 ERA, which is elite, but an American League best 2.35 FIP. That means that he was plagued by poor fielding behind him, but this is one of the most reliable arms in the big leagues.

While there should be some concern about Flaherty's role in the rotation long term, I believe that he will be limited in his first start and any potential damage is overblown. Meanwhile, you can bank on a big outing from Gausman given his elite underlying metrics last season.

I'll go with the under on Saturday afternoon.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.