Texas Rangers vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction, 9/17/2022 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Texas Rangers vs Tampa Bay Rays

Date: Saturday, September 17, 2022

Location: Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL

TV: Bally Sports Sun

The Texas Rangers (62-81) are headed to Tropicana Field on Saturday where they will take on the Tampa Bay Rays (80-63). The pitchers expected to start will be Jon Gray and Ryan Yarbrough.

As a unit, the Texas Rangers are notching 4.5 runs per game, which has them sitting at 11th in baseball. They have tallied 643 runs scored while having a team on-base percentage of .306. The Rangers have tallied 204 doubles as a unit and have smacked 177 balls out of the park. They have accrued 612 RBI's as well as 1,181 hits so far this year, while their average at the plate comes in at .243. Texas owns a slugging percentage of .401 and have been called out on strikes 1,264 times, while drawing a walk on 415 occasions.

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The Rangers hold a team ERA of 4.22 over the course of the season (21st in the league), and their staff has struck out 1,175 batters. They have accrued a K/BB ratio of 2.25 and their pitching staff has a team WHIP of 1.35. Rangers pitchers have conceded 145 home runs and also 660 runs in total (22nd in the league). Their pitching staff has walked 522 opposing hitters and their FIP sits at 4.13 as a squad on the season.

The Rangers bullpen have recorded a save percentage of 56.9% and stepped onto the hill in 133 save situations. The relief pitchers have inherited 175 base runners for the season with 32.6% of them ended up crossing the plate. Rangers bullpen pitchers have gone to the mound with runners on base 114 times and also have had 154 appearances in high leverage situations. The Rangers have dispatched 474 relief pitchers to the hill over the course of the season. The relief pitchers have racked up 75 holds on the campaign (15th in baseball). They have accumulated 33 saves so far this season and have not converted 25 out of their 58 save opportunities.

The Rangers have converted 69.1% of balls in play into outs out of 11,421 innings, which has them sitting 19th in the majors. The Texas Rangers have earned 3,807 putouts for the season, in addition to 1,353 assists and 90 errors. Their fielding percentage is currently at .983 which ranks 27th in baseball, and have accumulated 116 double plays.

Gray has thrown 936 innings and has accumulated 970 strikeouts in his pro baseball career. Gray (60-55 mark in his career) is the owner of a FIP of 3.85 while he has faced 3,997 batters during his time in the major leagues. His ERA is 4.50 (468 ER's allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.318. He has conceded 920 base knocks (8.8 hits per 9 innings) and has 314 walks.

The Rays hold a team SLG% of .382 and they are recording 4.24 runs per contest (18th in MLB). They have hit 261 two-baggers, while taking a walk 436 times as well as scoring 606 runs. Tampa Bay is sitting with 127 long balls so far this year and 577 runs batted in. They have been rung up on 1,227 occasions (12th in MLB) and are sitting with 1,164 hits. The Tampa Bay Rays have an OBP of .311 as well as a team batting average of .242 on the season.

The Rays hold a team WHIP of 1.141 and are the owners of a FIP of 3.64 as a team this year. They come in at 7th in baseball as a pitching staff in total hits given up with 1,112. The Tampa Bay pitching staff have surrendered 538 runs over the course of the season and come in with a team ERA of 3.36 (474 earned runs conceded). Their K/BB ratio comes in at 3.65 (1,236 strikeouts vs 339 bases on balls). They have allowed 150 HR's and they concede 3.81 runs per 9 innings (6th in the league).

Tampa Bay relievers have an inherited score rate of 25.2% out of their 163 inherited base runners. Their relievers have stepped onto the mound 180 times in high leverage situations in addition to 123 occasions with base runners. With 182 save situations, the Rays have accumulated 106 holds in addition to 32 blown saves. They rank 24th in baseball with a save rate of 56.8%, and they have sent 507 bullpen pitchers onto the field so far this season. Tampa Bay has had relief pitchers enter the contest in 74 save opportunities and they have converted 42 saves.

The Tampa Bay Rays have gotten 95 double plays and have earned a fielding percentage of .986 (17th in baseball). The Rays have recorded 1,224 assists, 73 errors and have earned a total of 3,815 putouts for the year. In their 11,445 innings on the field, the Rays hold a defensive efficiency of 70.8% (5th in pro baseball).

In his MLB career, Yarbrough has surrendered 559 hits while tallying 464 punch outs in 575 innings pitched. Yarbrough (38-31 career win-loss mark) has earned a 4.31 earned run average while allowing 8.7 hits per 9 innings. He has conceded 276 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.195 and having a FIP of 4.1. His strikeout to walk ratio is 3.60 and he has faced 2,411 opposing hitters during his pro baseball career.

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

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Tampa Bay

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