St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, 9/23/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: FSKC/FSMW

Odds/Point Spread: Cardinals (-130) Royals (+120)

Kauffman Stadium is the venue where Maikel Franco and the Kansas City Royals (22-32, 5th in AL Central) will take on the St. Louis Cardinals (26-25, 2nd in NL Central) on Wednesday. The Cardinals open this contest at -130 while the Royals are coming in at +120. The over/under is set at 9. The men taking the mound are Carlos Martinez and Danny Duffy.

Key St. Louis Cardinals Injuries

9/22/2020 Austin Dean LF Elbow Out for the season
9/20/2020 Dakota Hudson SP Forearm Out for the season
9/4/2020 Kodi Whitley RP Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 24
8/31/2020 Ricardo Sanchez RP Elbow Out for the season
8/11/2020 Miles Mikolas SP Forearm Out for the season
6/28/2020 John Brebbia RP Elbow Out for the season

Key Kansas City Royals Injuries

9/22/2020 Mike Montgomery SP Lat Expected to be out until at least Sep 22
9/21/2020 Glenn Sparkman RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 24
9/16/2020 Matt Harvey SP Lat Out for the season
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

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Cardinals have a 26-25 overall record this season. Martinez has taken the hill for 880 frames and has tallied 867 strikeouts in his MLB career. His earned run average is 3.45 (337 earned runs allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.289. He has allowed 799 hits (8.2 hits per nine innings) and has had 335 free passes. Martinez (58-42 win-loss record in his career) is the owner of a FIP of 3.58 while he has faced 3,732 hitters during his time in the major leagues. The bullpen has an earned run average of 4.16 and they have given up 129 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .176 against the bullpen and they've struck out 172 hitters and walked 88 batters. As a team, St. Louis allows 7 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.8 batters per nine innings. They are 10th in the league in team earned run average at 3.95. The Cardinals pitchers collectively have given up 325 base hits and 182 earned runs. They have allowed 61 home runs this season, ranking them 22nd in the league. St. Louis as a pitching staff has walked 182 batters and struck out 404. They have walked 3.9 men per 9 innings while striking out 8.8 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.22 and their FIP as a unit is 4.64.

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

Hitting Statistics

As a team St. Louis is hitting .234, good for 21st in the league. The Cardinals hold a .374 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .325, which is good for 13th in baseball. They rank 27th in MLB with 7.1 hits per game. Yadier Molina is hitting .264 with an on-base percentage of .301. He has 33 hits this season in 125 at bats with 16 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .368 and an OPS+ of 82. Paul Goldschmidt is hitting .307 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .426. He has totaled 51 hits and he has driven in 19 men in 166 at bats. His OPS+ is 149 while his slugging percentage is at .482. The Cardinals have 361 hits, including 63 doubles and 48 home runs. St. Louis has walked 182 times so far this season and they have struck out 411 times as a unit. They have left 318 men on base and have a team OPS of .699. They score 4.2 runs per contest and have scored a total of 214 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Kansas City has a 22-32 overall mark this year. In his pro baseball career, Duffy has allowed 1,051 base hits while he has totaled 978 K's in 1,105 innings pitched. He has surrendered a total of 494 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.321 and a FIP of 4.3. He has a SO/W ratio of 2.39 and he has faced 4,696 hitters in his career. Duffy (63-65 career mark) is the owner of a 4.02 ERA while conceding 8.6 hits per nine innings. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.93 and they have given up 204 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .216 against the Royals bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 243 batters and walked 100 opposing hitters. As a team, Kansas City allows 8.7 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.9 batters per nine innings. They are 15th in the league in team earned run average at 4.39. The Royals pitchers as a team have surrendered 449 base knocks and 226 earned runs this season. They have given up 74 home runs this year, which ranks 9th in Major League Baseball. Kansas City as a staff has walked 194 hitters and struck out 458 batters. They give up a walk 3.8 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.9 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.39 while their FIP as a staff is 4.72.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .242, good for 18th in the league. The Royals hold a .394 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .307, which is good for 26th in baseball. They rank 14th in MLB with 8.1 hits per contest. Maikel Franco comes into this matchup batting .276 with an OBP of .323. He has 56 hits this year along with 33 RBI in 203 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .453 with an OPS+ of 109. Alex Gordon is hitting .215 this season and he has an OBP of .299. He has collected 32 hits in 149 at bats while driving in 11 runs. He has an OPS+ of 70 and a slugging percentage of .322. The Royals as a unit have 435 base hits, including 87 doubles and 59 homers. Kansas City has walked 155 times this year and they have struck out on 482 occasions. They have had 356 men left on base and have an OPS of .701. They have scored 4.06 runs per game and totaled 219 runs this season.

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

Guy's Pick: Take the Royals (+120)

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