The Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals meet Thursday in MLB action at Kauffman Stadium. Here’s a Royals vs. Twins Prediction. This article will include a Royals vs. Twins Pick.
Minnesota Twins Betting Preview
The Minnesota Twins are 1-4 on the year and play the Rays and Tigers next. The Minnesota Twins are batting .210 on the season and have a .323 OBP, and a .346 slugging percentage. The Minnesota Twins pitching staff has a 5.05 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. Victor Caratini leads the Minnesota Twins with 4 hits and 1 RBI, while Byron Buxton and Josh Bell have combined for 7 hits and 4 RBI.
Taj Bradley gets the ball for the Minnesota Twins, and he is 0-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 9 strikeouts this season. Bradley is 1-1 with a 0.96 ERA and 12 strikeouts in his career against the Kansas City Royals.
Kansas City Royals Betting Preview
The Kansas City Royals are 3-2 on the year and play the Brewers and Guardians next. The Kansas City Royals are batting .244 on the season, have a .319 OBP, and have a .400 slugging percentage. The Kansas City Royals pitching staff has a 4.36 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Kyle Isbel leads the Kansas City Royals with 8 hits and 4 RBI while Jac Caglianone and Maikel Garcia have combined for 10 hits and 3 RBI.
Cole Ragans gets the ball for the Kansas City Royals, and he is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA and 5 strikeouts this season. Ragans is 2-2 with a 1.85 ERA and 44 strikeouts in his career against the Minnesota Twins.
Why the Kansas City Royals will win
- The Royals have won each of their last 15 Thursday games against teams that held a losing record.
- The Twins have lost each of their last 11 Thursday games as underdogs against AL Central opponents.
- The Twins have failed to cover the run line in each of their last 10 Thursday games against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
- The Royals have covered the run line each of their last four games against teams that held a losing record.
- The Twins have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last six games against AL Central opponents.
- The Twins have lost the first inning in three of their last four games against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
- The Twins have trailed after 3 innings in eight of their last nine road games against AL Central opponents.
Why the Minnesota Twins will win
- The underdogs have won three of the last four games between the Twins and Royals.
- The Royals have lost each of their last four day games following a home win.
- The Twins have covered the run line in 10 of their last 11 day games against teams that held a winning record.
- The Royals have failed to cover the run line in eight of their last nine day games following a home win.
- The Royals have trailed after 5 innings in five of their last six day games against AL Central opponents.
- The Royals have lost the first inning in three of their last four games as favorites against AL Central opponents.
- The Royals have trailed after 3 innings in five of their last six day games against AL Central opponents that held a losing record.
Total Runs Facts
- Each of the Royals’ last 12 games as favorites against the Twins has gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Fourteen of the Twins’ last 15 games as underdogs against the Royals have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Twins’ last six games.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in seven of the Royals’ last eight day games against American League opponents.
Kansas City Royals Player Prop Facts
- Kyle Isbel has hit a home run in each of the Royals’ last two games.
- Maikel Garcia has recorded at least one hit in each of the Royals’ last 14 home games against AL Central opponents.
Minnesota Twins Player Prop Facts
- Byron Buxton has hit at least one home run in five of his last eight road appearances after playing the previous day.
- Ryan Jeffers has recorded at least one hit in each of his last seven appearances with the Twins as road underdogs against AL Central opponents.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Royals rank 1st in the league for strikeouts against this season (39).
- The Royals rank 27th in the league for strikeouts this season (40).
- The Twins rank 30th in the league for hits this season (34).
- The Twins rank 29th in the league for opponent batting average this season (.278).
Royals vs Twins Prediction
The Twins are a tough sell in their current form, but I don’t think they’re as bad as this start indicates. Also, Bradley is coming off a strong 4.1 innings against the Orioles and is probably better than recent years suggest. Bradley has swing-and-miss stuff; it’s just about finding more consistent control and stopping giving free passes.
Ragans wasn’t good in his debut against the Braves and considering the Royals’ bullpen is a bit taxed after yesterday, they can’t afford another poor outing. Quick turnaround, I’ll take a shot with the Twins and the plus money in what feels like an important game to right the ship.