Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Indians Prediction, 7/9/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Indians

Date: Friday, July 9, 2021

Location: Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH

TV: SportsTime Ohio

Odds/Point Spread: Kansas City (+110) Cleveland (-141)

Eli Morgan and the Cleveland Indians (42-42, 2nd in AL Central) play the Kansas City Royals (36-50, 4th in AL Central) at Progressive Field on Friday. The Indians open this game at -141 while the Royals are coming in at +110. The O/U opens at 9.5. The pitchers taking the mound are Brad Keller and Eli Morgan.

As a team, the Kansas City Royals are scoring 4.1 runs per game, which has them at 24th in the league. They have a total of 351 runs and have an OBP of .306. The Royals have accrued 124 doubles as a unit and have knocked 84 balls out of the stadium. They have accrued 332 runs batted in and 687 hits on the campaign, and their average at the plate is at .244. Kansas City is slugging .389 and have struck out 689 times, while drawing a walk on 234 occasions.

The Royals are sitting with a team ERA of 5.05 so far this year (28th in baseball), and their staff has rung up 736 hitters. They have a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.16 and the pitching staff has a collective WHIP of 1.47. Royals pitchers have allowed 108 long balls and 435 runs in total (26th in MLB). Their pitching staff has walked 340 opposing batters and their FIP is 4.60 as a team on the season.

The Royals have sent 286 relief pitchers to the mound on the season. The relief pitchers have inherited 125 base runners over the course of the season and 28.0% of those players earned a run for their team. They have accumulated 18 saves on the campaign and have blown 13 of their 31 chances to save the game. The Royals relief pitchers have earned a save percentage of 58.1% and stepped onto the hill in 71 save situations. The bullpen have accumulated 40 holds for the year (16th in MLB). Royals relief pitchers have gone to the mound with runners on 79 times in addition to having 74 appearances in high leverage situations.

The Royals have turned 67.3% of baseballs in play into outs out of their 6,600 innings on the diamond, which has them sitting 29th in professional baseball. The Kansas City Royals have notched a total of 2,200 putouts this year, as well as 730 assists and 50 errors. Their fielding percentage is holding at .983 which has them ranked 18th in the majors, and have accumulated 583 double plays.

Keller has pitched in 447 innings and has accounted for 327 strikeouts thus far in his career. Keller (27-32 career record) has earned a FIP of 4.14 while going up against 1,924 opposing hitters in the major leagues. His ERA is 4.06 (202 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.389. He has given up 441 base hits (8.9 hits per nine innings) and has 181 free passes.

The Indians hold a team SLG% of .394 and they tally 4.33 runs per contest (16th in baseball). They have hit 120 doubles, while taking a walk 232 times and recording 355 runs. Cleveland has knocked in 99 home runs so far this season as well as 337 runs batted in. They have been rung up on 689 instances (27th in the league) and have earned a total of 612 base hits. The Cleveland Indians have accumulated an on-base percentage of .297 in addition to a batting average of .229 this season.

The Indians are sitting with a team WHIP of 1.313 and have a FIP of 4.28 as a staff on the year. They are sitting at 9th in the league as a staff in total hits conceded with 633. The Cleveland pitching staff have allowed 372 runs on the campaign while having an ERA of 4.41 (349 earned runs conceded). Their K/BB ratio is 2.56 (773 strikeouts vs 302 walks). They have conceded 104 homers and they allow 4.70 runs per 9 innings (17th in the league).

Cleveland bullpen pitchers have an inherited score rate of 29.9% of 107 inherited base runners. Their relief pitchers have stepped onto the hill 78 times in high leverage situations and on 75 occasions with runners on. Sitting with 66 save situations, the Indians have 36 holds and also 6 blown saves. They sit at 1st in MLB with a save percentage of 78.6%, and they have sent 275 bullpen pitchers to the mound on the campaign. Cleveland has called on bullpen pitchers to enter the game in 28 save chances and they have tallied 22 saves.

In 6,414 innings played, the Indians have a efficiency on defense of 69.6% (16th in baseball). The Cleveland Indians have twisted 69 double plays and have a fielding percentage of .985 (8th in professional baseball). The Indians have racked up 702 assists, 42 errors and have earned a total of 2,138 putouts on the campaign.

Morgan (1-3 win-loss record in his career) holds a 8.44 ERA while conceding 11.8 hits per 9 innings. He has a K/BB ratio of 5.50 and he has faced 96 opposing hitters during his MLB career. He has given up a total of 20 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 1.500 and having a FIP of 6.7. In his pro baseball career, Morgan has allowed 28 hits while he has accumulated 22 strikeouts in 21 innings.

Who will win tonight's MLB game ATS?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Kansas City (+110)

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