Pittsburgh Pirates vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, 9/11/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Pittsburgh Pirates vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Friday, September 11, 2020

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: ATPT/FSKC

Odds/Point Spread: Pirates (+104) Royals (-114)

Kauffman Stadium is the site where Whit Merrifield and the Kansas City Royals (17-28, 5th in AL Central) will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates (14-27, 5th in NL Central) on Friday. The moneyline on this matchup has the Pirates coming in at +104 and the Royals are at -114. The total has been set at 9.5. The men taking the mound will be Steven Brault and Kris Bubic.

Key Pittsburgh Pirates Injuries

9/9/2020 Yacksel Rios RP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Sep 25
9/9/2020 Austin Davis RP Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Sep 11
9/6/2020 Anthony Alford CF Elbow Out for the season
9/5/2020 Keone Kela RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 14
9/2/2020 Mitch Keller SP Oblique Expected to be out until at least Sep 14
8/19/2020 Phillip Evans 3B Jaw Out for the season
8/11/2020 Clay Holmes RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 21
8/6/2020 Nick Burdi RP Elbow Out for the season
8/6/2020 Michael Feliz RP Forearm Out for the season
7/23/2020 Luke Maile C Finger Out for the season
6/30/2020 Chris Archer SP Shoulder Out for the season
6/30/2020 Kevin Kramer RF Hip Out for the season
2/13/2020 Jameson Taillon SP Elbow Out for the season

Key Kansas City Royals Injuries

9/10/2020 Carlos Hernandez RP Abdomen Expected to be out until at least Sep 12
9/8/2020 Jorge Soler DH Oblique Expected to be out until at least Sep 24
9/7/2020 Salvador Perez C Eye Expected to be out until at least Sep 11
9/2/2020 Ian Kennedy RP Calf Out for the season
8/16/2020 Daniel Tillo RP Elbow Out for the season
8/15/2020 Foster Griffin RP Elbow Out for the season
8/10/2020 Franchy Cordero RF Wrist Expected to be out until at least Sep 24
8/8/2020 Mike Montgomery SP Lat Expected to be out until at least Sep 15
8/7/2020 Glenn Sparkman RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 18
7/16/2020 Kelvin Gutierrez 3B Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 18

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Pirates have a 14-27 overall record this season. Brault (11-14 career record) has a FIP of 4.78 while he has faced 1,348 opposing batters during his time in the majors. His earned run average is 4.85 (159 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.565. He has given up 307 base knocks (9.4 hits per nine innings) and has had 155 walks. Brault has taken the hill for 295 innings and has racked up 254 punchouts during his career. The bullpen has an earned run average of 4.50 and they have given up 158 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .202 against the bullpen and they've struck out 195 hitters and walked 90 batters. As a team, Pittsburgh allows 8.4 hits per nine innings while striking out 9.2 batters per nine innings. They are 21st in the league in team earned run average at 4.87. The Pirates pitchers collectively have given up 333 base hits and 194 earned runs. They have allowed 61 home runs this season, ranking them 10th in the league. Pittsburgh as a pitching staff has walked 175 batters and struck out 365. They have walked 4.4 men per 9 innings while striking out 9.2 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.42 and their FIP as a unit is 5.02.

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

Hitting Statistics

As a team Pittsburgh is hitting .223, good for 28th in the league. The Pirates hold a .348 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .286, which is good for 30th in baseball. They rank 25th in MLB with 7.4 hits per game. Adam Frazier is hitting .236 with an on-base percentage of .302. He has 35 hits this season in 148 at bats with 15 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .338 and an OPS+ of 73. Bryan Reynolds is hitting .181 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .273. He has totaled 23 hits and he has driven in 12 men in 127 at bats. His OPS+ is 61 while his slugging percentage is at .323. The Pirates have 302 hits, including 53 doubles and 35 home runs. Pittsburgh has walked 118 times so far this season and they have struck out 357 times as a unit. They have left 244 men on base and have a team OPS of .634. They score 3.9 runs per contest and have scored a total of 160 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Kansas City has a 17-28 overall mark this year. Bubic has surrendered 37 base knocks and he has 31 K's in 35 innings. He has conceded a total of 19 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.429 and having a FIP of 4.9. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.38 and he has faced 155 opposing batters so far in his pro baseball career. Bubic (0-5 career mark) has earned a 4.89 ERA while allowing 9.5 hits per nine innings. The bullpen has an earned run average of 4.09 and they have given up 175 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .218 against the Royals bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 198 batters and walked 88 opposing hitters. As a team, Kansas City allows 9 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.7 batters per nine innings. They are 15th in the league in team earned run average at 4.61. The Royals pitchers as a team have surrendered 379 base knocks and 193 earned runs this season. They have given up 61 home runs this year, which ranks 9th in Major League Baseball. Kansas City as a staff has walked 163 hitters and struck out 365 batters. They give up a walk 3.9 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.7 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.44 while their FIP as a staff is 4.86.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .240, good for 17th in the league. The Royals hold a .394 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .303, which is good for 27th in baseball. They rank 17th in MLB with 8.0 hits per contest. Whit Merrifield comes into this matchup batting .258 with an OBP of .307. He has 46 hits this year along with 25 RBI in 178 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .444 with an OPS+ of 100. Maikel Franco is hitting .261 this season and he has an OBP of .299. He has collected 43 hits in 165 at bats while driving in 23 runs. He has an OPS+ of 101 and a slugging percentage of .455. The Royals as a unit have 350 base hits, including 73 doubles and 48 homers. Kansas City has walked 119 times this year and they have struck out on 383 occasions. They have had 285 men left on base and have an OPS of .697. They have scored 3.86 runs per game and totaled 170 runs this season.

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

Guy's Pick: Take the Royals (-114)

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