Tampa Bay Rays vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, 7/22/2022 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Tampa Bay Rays vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Friday, July 22, 2022

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: Bally Sports Kansas City

The Kansas City Royals (36-56) are welcoming the Tampa Bay Rays (51-41) at Kauffman Stadium on Friday. The starting pitchers will be Drew Rasmussen and Zack Greinke.

As a unit, the Tampa Bay Rays are notching 4.2 runs per outing, which has them at 19th in baseball. They are sitting with 388 runs scored and hold an on-base percentage of .307. The Rays have accrued 164 two-baggers as a squad and have hit 86 baseballs out of the park. They have 367 runs batted in and 742 base knocks on the campaign, and their batting average is .240. Tampa Bay is slugging .384 and have been rung up 809 times, while drawing a walk on 274 occasions.

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The Rays have an earned run average of 3.38 on the year (4th in MLB), and their staff has rung up 802 batters. They have walked 230 opposing hitters and their FIP comes in at 3.81 as a team so far this season. Their strikeout to walk ratio is 3.49 and their pitching staff holds a WHIP of 1.14. Rays pitchers have allowed 105 long balls in addition to 359 total runs (6th in baseball).

The Rays relievers have a save rate of 54.0% and has come into the game in 118 save situations. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 114 runners so far this year with 22.8% of those players ended up scoring. Rays bullpen pitchers have come into the game with runners on 84 times in addition to having 118 appearances in high leverage situations. The Rays have dispatched 334 relievers to the mound for the season. The bullpen are sitting with 67 holds this season (1st in baseball). They have earned 27 saves this year and have missed out on 23 of their 50 save opportunities.

The Rays have turned 71.3% of baseballs in play into outs out of 7,395 innings on the diamond, ranking them 5th in the majors. The Tampa Bay Rays have a total of 2,465 putouts this year, as well as 778 assists and 48 errors. Their fielding percentage is holding at .985 which is 14th in baseball, and have accumulated 66 double plays.

Rasmussen (10-4 mark in his career) is the owner of a FIP of 3.54 while facing 676 batters in the major leagues. He has surrendered 137 base hits (7.5 hits per 9 innings) with 55 free passes. His earned run average is 3.29 (60 ER's allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.171. Rasmussen has taken the ball for 164 frames and has earned 156 K's in his MLB career.

The Royals have a SLG% of .378 and they tally 3.90 runs per outing (26th in MLB). They have 142 two-baggers, while getting a free base 271 times and putting up 359 runs. Kansas City has knocked in 76 home runs on the campaign as well as 342 runs batted in. They have struck out on 706 occasions (27th in baseball) and have accounted for 756 base knocks. The Kansas City Royals have tallied an OBP of .308 and a team batting average of .244 this year.

The Kansas City pitching staff have yielded 469 runs over the course of the season and come in with a team ERA of 4.80 (431 earned runs relinquished). They have given up 98 homers and they allow 5.22 runs per 9 innings (26th in MLB). The Royals have a team WHIP of 1.478 and have a FIP of 4.48 as a staff so far this season. Their strikeout to walk ratio comes in at 1.89 (670 strikeouts vs 354 bases on balls). They rank 28th in MLB as a staff in total hits allowed with 840.

Kansas City relievers hold an inherited score rate of 29.9% out of their 174 inherited runners. Their relievers have come in 110 times in high leverage situations and on 111 occasions with base runners. Sitting with 88 save situations, the Royals have earned 51 holds in addition to 12 blown saves. They are ranked 16th in baseball with a save rate of 63.6%, and they have sent 327 relievers to the hill for the year. Kansas City has had relief pitchers enter the game in 33 save opportunities and they have walked away with 21 saves.

The Kansas City Royals have turned 80 double plays and hold a fielding percentage of .986 (10th in pro baseball). The Royals have 854 assists, 46 errors and have amassed 2,424 putouts this season. In their 7,272 innings on the diamond, the Royals are sitting with a efficiency on defense of 68.1% (27th in pro baseball).

Greinke (222-138 win-loss mark in his career) holds a 3.44 earned run average while allowing 8.4 hits per nine innings. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.92 and he has gone up against 13,031 hitters thus far in his career. He has given up 1,219 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.163 and a FIP of 3.5. During his pro baseball career, Greinke has surrendered 2,980 hits while totaling 2,851 strikeouts in 3,187 frames.

Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread or moneyline?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Tampa Bay

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