Chicago Cubs vs Kansas City Royals Predictions, MLB Picks, Betting Tips 8/5/2020

Game: Chicago Cubs vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: MARQ/FSKC

Odds/Point Spread: Cubs (-170) Royals (+160)

Salvador Perez and the Kansas City Royals (3-8, 5th in AL Central) play the Chicago Cubs (8-2, 1st in NL Central) at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday. The Royals open this contest at +160 while the Cubs are priced at -170. The over/under opens at 9.5. The starting pitchers will be Yu Darvish and Kris Bubic.

Key Chicago Cubs Injuries

8/2/2020 James Norwood RP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Aug 11
8/2/2020 Jose Quintana SP Thumb Expected to be out until at least Aug 14
7/26/2020 Brad Wieck RP Hamstring Expected to be out until at least Aug 5
7/23/2020 Daniel Descalso 2B Ankle Expected to be out until at least Sep 5

Key Kansas City Royals Injuries

8/3/2020 Randy Rosario RP Arm Expected to be out until at least Aug 7
8/3/2020 Nicky Lopez 2B Lower Leg Probable for Aug 4
8/2/2020 Hunter Dozier 3B Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 14
8/2/2020 Chance Adams RP Undisclosed Expected to be out until at least Aug 10
8/1/2020 Brad Keller SP Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Aug 6
7/31/2020 Foster Griffin RP Forearm Out for the season
7/28/2020 Mike Montgomery SP Lat Expected to be out until at least Aug 14
7/16/2020 Kelvin Gutierrez 3B Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 1

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Cubs have a 8-2 overall record this season. Darvish has pitched in 1,061 innings and is sitting with 1,311 strikeouts so far in his pro baseball career. His ERA is 3.56 (420 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.172. He has conceded 858 base knocks (7.3 hits per 9 innings) and has had 385 free passes. Darvish (64-54 career record) sits with a FIP of 3.56 and he has faced 4,395 opposing hitters in the majors. The bullpen has an earned run average of 7.55 and they have given up 30 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .205 against the bullpen and they've struck out 32 hitters and walked 23 batters. As a team, Chicago allows 6.2 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.6 batters per nine innings. They are 13th in the league in team earned run average at 3.86. The Cubs pitchers collectively have given up 63 base hits and 39 earned runs. They have allowed 13 home runs this season, ranking them 13th in the league. Chicago as a pitching staff has walked 37 batters and struck out 87. They have walked 3.7 men per 9 innings while striking out 8.6 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.10 and their FIP as a unit is 4.41.

Related: Get MLB predictions on all of today's games

Hitting Statistics

As a team Chicago is hitting .232, good for 18th in the league. The Cubs hold a .439 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .335, which is good for 9th in baseball. They rank 19th in MLB with 7.6 hits per game. Willson Contreras is hitting .290 with an on-base percentage of .371. He has 9 hits this season in 31 at bats with 4 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .548 and an OPS+ of 153. Anthony Rizzo is hitting .219 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .432. He has totaled 7 hits and he has driven in 5 men in 32 at bats. His OPS+ is 159 while his slugging percentage is at .500. The Cubs have 76 hits, including 18 doubles and 16 home runs. Chicago has walked 39 times so far this season and they have struck out 99 times as a unit. They have left 71 men on base and have a team OPS of .774. They score 5.2 runs per contest and have scored a total of 52 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Kansas City has a 3-8 overall mark this year. Bubic (0-1) has earned a 4.50 earned run average while allowing 6.8 hits per nine innings. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.00 and he has faced 18 opposing batters so far. Bubic has allowed 3 hits and he has 3 punchouts in 4 frames. He has conceded a total of 2 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.000 and being the owner of a FIP of 7.2. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.52 and they have given up 52 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .218 against the Royals bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 51 batters and walked 24 opposing hitters. As a team, Kansas City allows 8.7 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.1 batters per nine innings. They are 18th in the league in team earned run average at 4.26. The Royals pitchers as a team have surrendered 92 base knocks and 45 earned runs this season. They have given up 15 home runs this year, which ranks 4th in Major League Baseball. Kansas City as a staff has walked 40 hitters and struck out 86 batters. They give up a walk 3.8 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.1 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.39 while their FIP as a staff is 4.87.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .234, good for 16th in the league. The Royals hold a .392 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .280, which is good for 27th in baseball. They rank 11th in MLB with 8.1 hits per contest. Salvador Perez comes into this matchup batting .244 with an OBP of .261. He has 11 hits this year along with 5 RBI in 45 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .400 with an OPS+ of 85. Jorge Soler is hitting .282 this season and he has an OBP of .404. He has collected 11 hits in 39 at bats while driving in 3 runs. He has an OPS+ of 153 and a slugging percentage of .487. The Royals as a unit have 89 base hits, including 22 doubles and 12 homers. Kansas City has walked 19 times this year and they have struck out on 100 occasions. They have had 68 men left on base and have an OPS of .672. They have scored 3.64 runs per game and totaled 40 runs this season.

Who will win tonight's Cubs/Royals MLB game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take the Royals (+160)

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