Boston Red Sox vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, 9/1/2023 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Boston Red Sox vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Friday, September 1, 2023

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: Bally Sports Kansas City

Odds/Point Spread: Boston (-218) Kansas City (+180)

Kauffman Stadium is where the Kansas City Royals (41-94) will play the Boston Red Sox (69-65) on Friday. The odds on this game have the Red Sox at -218 and the Royals are sitting at +180. The over/under has been set at 9.5. The starting pitchers are James Paxton and Jordan Lyles.

The Red Sox have tallied 291 doubles as a team and have knocked 159 balls out of the park. Boston is slugging .438 and have struck out 1,084 times, while being walked on 412 occasions. As a squad, the Boston Red Sox are notching 5.0 runs per outing, which has them sitting at 8th in the league. They have accumulated 638 runs batted in in addition to 1,218 hits for the year, and their average at the plate is at .265. They have earned 665 runs while having a team OBP of .331.

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The Red Sox are sitting with a team ERA of 4.48 this season (19th in baseball), and the staff has struck out 1,159 hitters. Red Sox pitchers have relinquished 176 long balls in addition to 638 total runs (19th in the league). Their pitching staff has walked 399 opposing batters and their FIP comes in at 4.42 as a team for the season. Boston has relinquished 1,192 base hits (9.1 per 9 innings) and also 589 earned runs. Their strikeout to walk ratio is 2.90 and the pitching staff has recorded a WHIP of 1.34.

Red Sox relief pitchers have stepped onto the hill with runners on base 95 times as well as having 119 appearances in high leverage situations. The relief pitchers have notched 60 holds this season (25th in MLB). The Red Sox bullpen have accumulated a save percentage of 76.5% and has come into the game in 112 save situations. They have recorded 39 saves this season and have blown 12 of their 51 save chances. The relief pitchers have inherited 145 base runners for the season and 28.3% of them crossed home plate. The Red Sox have dispatched 422 relief pitchers to the mound on the year.

The Boston Red Sox have a tally of 3,498 putouts for the season, in addition to 1,174 assists and 91 errors. Their fielding rate is holding at .981 which has them ranked 30th in pro baseball, and they have turned 115 double plays. The Red Sox have transformed 67.5% of balls hit into play into outs out of 10,494 innings, which has them ranked 28th in baseball.

Paxton (64-37 win-loss record in his career) is the owner of a FIP of 3.43 while facing 3,531 hitters in the major leagues. He has given up 772 hits (8.2 hits per nine innings) and has 262 walks. His earned run average is 3.63 (343 ER's allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.217. Paxton has taken the hill for 849 innings and has accumulated 932 punch outs thus far in his career.

Kansas City has hit 128 HRs on the year to go along with 510 runs batted in. They have tallied 217 two-baggers, while taking a walk 325 times as well as notching 530 runs. The Kansas City Royals have an on-base percentage of .297 in addition to a team batting average of .240 so far this season. The Royals hold a team slugging percentage of .389 and they average 3.93 runs per game (29th in the league). They have been called out on strikes on 1,153 occasions (16th in baseball) and have tallied 1,083 hits.

The Royals are sitting with a team WHIP of 1.417 and have a FIP of 4.74 as a staff on the year. Their strikeout to walk ratio sits at 8.20 (1,068 strikeouts vs 464 free passes). They are sitting at 26th in baseball as a pitching staff in total hits surrendered with 1,198. They have conceded 175 dingers and they yield 5.54 runs per 9 innings (28th in the league). The Kansas City pitching staff have allowed 722 runs on the season while holding an ERA of 5.23 (681 earned runs allowed).

Kansas City has called on relievers to step onto the hill in 39 save opportunities and they have walked away with 19 saves. They rank 27th in baseball holding a save percentage of 48.7%, and they have dispatched 440 relief pitchers to the mound this year. Their relief pitchers have stepped onto the mound 111 times in high leverage situations and also on 93 occasions with base runners. Kansas City relievers hold an inherited score rate of 36.7% out of their 150 inherited runners. Sitting with 90 save situations, the Royals have earned 51 holds and 20 blown saves.

Out of their 10,395 innings played, the Royals have a defensive efficiency of 68.2% (23rd in MLB). The Kansas City Royals have turned 99 double plays and hold a fielding percentage of .986 (12th in pro baseball). The Royals have 1,136 assists, 64 errors and have accounted for 3,465 putouts during this campaign.

During his career, Lyles has conceded 1,594 base hits and he has 1,119 K's in 1,468 innings. Lyles (69-105 win-loss mark in his career) is the owner of a 5.24 ERA while allowing 9.8 hits per 9 innings. He has given up a total of 855 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.416 and being the owner of a FIP of 4.8. His K/BB ratio is 2.30 and he has faced 6,425 hitters so far in his MLB career.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Boston (-218)

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