Kansas City Royals vs Boston Red Sox Prediction, 8/9/2023 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Kansas City Royals vs Boston Red Sox

Date: Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Location: Fenway Park in Boston, MA

TV: NESN

The Kansas City Royals (36-78) are hitting the road to Fenway Park on Wednesday where they will compete against the Boston Red Sox (58-54). The expected starting pitchers are Jordan Lyles and Nick Pivetta.

The Royals have earned 186 doubles as a squad and have knocked 105 balls out of the park. Kansas City is slugging .385 and have struck out 989 times, while being walked on 280 occasions. As a squad, the Kansas City Royals are earning 3.9 runs per contest, which puts them at 29th in the league. They have accrued 424 runs batted in in addition to 906 base knocks on the campaign, and their batting average is at .238. They have earned 442 runs scored while holding a team OBP of .297.

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The Royals have a team earned run average of 5.21 this season (28th in baseball), and the staff has rung up 884 batters. Royals pitchers have given up 139 home runs and 608 total runs (28th in baseball). Their pitching staff has walked 392 opposing batters and their FIP sits at 4.63 as a unit for the season. Kansas City has given up 1,009 hits (9.2 per 9 innings) and also 574 earned runs. Their strikeout to walk ratio sits at 2.26 and the pitching staff holds a collective WHIP of 1.41.

The Royals bullpen have accumulated a save rate of 50.0% and stepped onto the hill in 77 save situations. The relief pitchers have inherited 119 runners so far this season and 39.5% of those players ended up scoring. Royals relief pitchers have entered the game with runners on base 73 times in addition to having 94 appearances in high leverage situations. The Royals have dispatched 370 relievers to the hill so far this year. The relievers are sitting with 43 holds on the year (28th in MLB). They have compiled 17 saves on the season and have not converted 17 of 34 save opportunities.

The Kansas City Royals are sitting with 2,976 putouts this year, in addition to 973 assists and 51 errors. Their fielding rate is currently at .987 which has them sitting 9th in the majors, and have accumulated 84 double plays. The Royals have turned 68.4% of baseballs in play into outs in their 8,928 innings on the field, ranking them 22nd in professional baseball.

Lyles has taken the hill for 1,444 innings and has earned 1,104 strikeouts during his pro baseball career. His ERA is 5.20 (834 earned runs allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.417. He has conceded 1,567 hits (9.8 hits per 9 innings) and has 480 free passes. Lyles (69-102 career win-loss mark) sits with a FIP of 4.73 and he has faced 6,324 opposing batters in the major leagues.

The Boston Red Sox have compiled a team OBP of .329 as well as a batting average of .262 for the year. They have struck out on 921 occasions (23rd in MLB) and are sitting with 1,004 hits. Boston has hit 126 long balls on the year to go along with 526 RBIs. The Red Sox have a slugging percentage of .432 and they average 4.90 runs per game (7th in baseball). They have 246 doubles, while getting a free base 343 times and scoring 549 runs.

The Red Sox have a WHIP of 1.317 and have a FIP of 4.35 as a unit for the year. They are currently ranked 24th in MLB as a staff in total hits given up with 978. The Boston pitching staff have relinquished 519 runs on the campaign while holding an ERA of 4.36 (479 earned runs conceded). Their K/BB ratio is 8.70 (957 strikeouts vs 325 walks). They have surrendered 142 dingers and they surrender 4.72 runs per 9 innings (18th in MLB).

Boston has called on relievers to take the mound in 41 save opportunities and they have walked away with 31 saves. They rank 1st in baseball holding a save percentage of 75.6%, and they have sent 350 relievers to the hill on the season. Their bullpen pitchers have come in 98 times in high leverage situations in addition to 79 occasions with runners on base. Boston relief pitchers hold an inherited score rate of 29.2% out of 120 inherited base runners. Sitting with 90 save situations, the Red Sox have recorded 49 holds and 10 blown saves.

The Boston Red Sox have turned 103 double plays and have a fielding percentage of .981 (30th in pro baseball). The Red Sox have racked up 1,002 assists, 78 errors and have accumulated 2,967 putouts for the year. In 8,901 innings played, the Red Sox hold a defensive efficiency of 67.8% (27th in professional baseball).

Pivetta (47-56 win-loss mark in his career) has a 4.92 earned run average while giving up 8.8 hits per nine innings. His strikeout to walk ratio is 2.74 and he has faced 3,589 batters so far in his MLB career. He has allowed a total of 456 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.367 and a FIP of 4.5. So far in his career, Pivetta has conceded 812 base knocks while he has totaled 896 punch outs in 833 innings pitched.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Kansas City

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