Kansas City Royals vs Oakland Athletics Prediction, 8/21/2023 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Kansas City Royals vs Oakland Athletics

Date: Monday, August 21, 2023

Location: Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, CA

TV: NBC Sports California

Odds/Point Spread: Kansas City (-115) Oakland (-105)

The Kansas City Royals (40-85) are on their way to Oakland Coliseum on Monday where they will go up against the Oakland Athletics (34-89). The moneyline on this game has the Royals at -115 while the Athletics are opening at -105. The over/under comes in at 8. The expected starting pitchers will be Alec Marsh and Kyle Muller.

Kansas City has a slugging % of .395 and have been called out on strikes 1,069 times, while taking a walk on 300 occasions. They have recorded 483 RBI's as well as 1,027 hits this season, while their batting average sits at .244. The Royals have accounted for 207 two-baggers as a team and have knocked 121 baseballs out of the park. They have accumulated 502 runs while holding a team OBP of .301. As a team, the Kansas City Royals are scoring 4.0 runs per game, which has them sitting at 28th in baseball.

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They have earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.25 and the pitching staff has earned a collective WHIP of 1.42. Royals pitchers have given up 154 home runs and also 667 total runs (28th in MLB). Kansas City has surrendered 1,112 base knocks (9.2 per 9 innings) in addition to 626 earned runs. The Royals have compiled a team earned run average of 5.17 so far this year (28th in the league), and the staff has rung up 978 hitters. They have walked 435 players from the other team and their FIP is 4.67 as a unit on the year.

The Royals have sent 410 relief pitchers to the hill on the campaign. The relievers have inherited 138 base runners on the season with 39.1% of those runners ended up scoring. They have accumulated 18 saves so far this year and have blown 19 of their 37 chances to get a save. The Royals relievers have recorded a save percentage of 48.6% and stepped onto the hill in 87 save situations. The bullpen have a total of 50 holds on the year (28th in MLB). Royals bullpen pitchers have entered the game with runners on base 86 times in addition to having 106 appearances in high leverage situations.

The Royals have converted 68.2% of balls in play into outs in their 9,801 innings, which has them sitting 23rd in the majors. The Kansas City Royals have a total of 3,267 putouts this season, in addition to 1,069 assists and 60 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .986 which puts them in 12th in MLB, and they have turned 93 double plays.

Marsh has pitched in 38 innings and has accumulated 41 punch outs in his MLB career. His ERA is 5.68 (24 ER's allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.684. He has conceded 40 hits (9.5 hits per 9 innings) with 24 free passes. Marsh (0-6 mark in his career) has earned a FIP of 6.81 while he has gone up against 178 opposing batters during his time in the major leagues.

The Oakland Athletics have earned a team on-base percentage of .301 as well as a team batting average of .224 on the season. They have been rung up on 1,120 instances (8th in MLB) and have earned 906 hits. Oakland has a total of 121 home runs on the season as well as 426 RBIs. The Athletics have a slugging percentage of .365 and they average 3.59 runs per game (30th in baseball). They have recorded 172 two-baggers, while taking a walk 395 times as well as scoring 441 runs.

The Oakland pitching staff have allowed 733 runs for the season while having an ERA of 5.76 (690 earned runs conceded). They have yielded 166 long balls and they allow 6.12 runs per 9 innings (30th in the league). The Athletics are sitting with a team WHIP of 1.545 in addition to having a FIP of 5.10 as a pitching staff on the campaign. Their strikeout to walk ratio is 8.30 (991 strikeouts against 525 walks). They come in at 28th in MLB as a pitching staff in total hits allowed with 1,141.

Sitting with 85 save situations, the Athletics have 40 holds and 23 blown saves. Oakland has called on relievers to step onto the hill in 43 save chances and they have earned 20 saves. Their bullpen pitchers have taken the field 144 times in high leverage situations and also on 151 occasions with runners on. Oakland relief pitchers hold an inherited score rate of 39.3% of 239 inherited base runners. They sit at 30th in the league holding a save rate of 46.5%, and they have dispatched 411 relief pitchers to the hill over the course of the season.

The Oakland Athletics have turned 87 double plays and have accounted for a fielding rate of .983 (27th in pro baseball). The Athletics have recorded 966 assists, 74 errors and have notched a total of 3,236 putouts so far this season. Out of their 9,708 innings played, the Athletics hold a defensive efficiency of 67.3% (29th in MLB).

Muller (4-9 win-loss mark in his career) has a 6.50 ERA and has allowed 10.2 hits per 9 innings. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.56 and he has faced 467 hitters thus far in his career. He has surrendered 73 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.673 and a FIP of 5.1. During his career, Muller has given up 114 base hits while he has tallied 86 K's in 101 innings.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Oakland (-105)

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