Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, 3/30/2023 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Thursday, March 30, 2023

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: Bally Sports Kansas City

Odds/Point Spread: Minnesota (-164) Kansas City (+135)

The Kansas City Royals (65-97 last season) will go up against the Minnesota Twins (78-84 last year) at Kauffman Stadium on Thursday. The line on this contest has the Twins at -164 while the Royals open at +135. The over/under has been set at 8.5. The pitchers who are expected to start will be Pablo Lopez and Zack Greinke.

Minnesota had a slugging rate of .401 and struck out 1,353 times, while being walked on 518 occasions. They had 668 runs batted in as well as 1,356 base knocks for the previous season, while their batting average finished at .248. The Twins earned 269 doubles as a squad and knocked 178 baseballs out of the stadium. They racked up 696 runs scored and held an OBP of .317. As a team, the Minnesota Twins scored 4.3 runs per contest, which was 17th in the league.

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The Twins finished with a team ERA of 3.98 for the previous season (19th in baseball), and the staff rung up 1,336 hitters. They had a K/BB ratio of 2.85 and the pitching staff had a team WHIP of 1.24. Twins pitchers allowed 184 home runs in addition to 684 total runs (14th in MLB). They walked 468 opposing players and their FIP finished at 4.03 as a squad last year.

Twins relief pitchers went to the mound with runners on base 133 times and also had 167 games in high leverage situations. The relief pitchers finished with 100 holds last year (7th in MLB). The Twins bullpen had a save percentage of 50.9% and stepped onto the hill in 157 save situations. They earned 28 saves during the previous year and missed out on 27 of their 55 save opportunities. The relievers inherited 182 runners over the course of last season and 29.1% of those runners earned a run for their team. The Twins had sent 549 relief pitchers to the hill over the course of the prior season.

The Minnesota Twins had a total of 4,311 putouts over the course of the prior season, as well as 1,306 assists and 83 errors. Their fielding rate was at .985 which ranked 16th in pro baseball, and accumulated 121 double plays. The Twins transformed 70.2% of baseballs in play into outs out of 12,933 innings on the diamond, ranking them 12th in baseball.

Lopez has pitched in 510 innings and has earned 489 K's so far in his pro baseball career. Lopez (28-31 win-loss mark in his career) has a FIP of 3.77 while facing 2,110 opposing hitters in the majors. His earned run average is 3.94 (223 ER's allowed) and his WHIP is 1.186. He has given up 463 base hits (8.2 hits per nine innings) and has had 142 free passes.

The Royals held a team slugging percentage of .380 and they earned 3.95 runs per game (24th in baseball). They hit 247 doubles, while taking a walk 460 times and scoring 640 runs. Kansas City recorded 138 home runs over the course of last season to go along with 613 runs batted in. They were rung up on 1,287 occasions (23rd in the league) and accounted for 1,327 hits. The Kansas City Royals tallied an on-base percentage of .306 and a team batting average of .244 for the previous season.

The Kansas City pitching staff conceded 810 runs last year while holding an ERA of 4.70 (740 earned runs surrendered). They allowed 173 homers and they surrendered 5.15 runs per 9 innings (26th in the league). The Royals finished with a team WHIP of 1.470 and had a FIP of 4.42 as a squad last year. They earned a K/BB ratio of 2.02 (1,191 strikeouts against 589 walks). They finished at 29th in baseball as a pitching staff in total hits conceded with 1,493.

Kansas City relievers had an inherited score percentage of 29.7% out of 293 inherited runners. Their bullpen pitchers came in 167 times in high leverage situations in addition to 181 occasions with runners on. Wrapping up the year with 139 save situations, the Royals accumulated 80 holds and also 21 blown saves. They were sitting at 19th in the league with a save rate of 61.1%, and they sent 560 relief pitchers to the hill last year. Kansas City called on relievers to step onto the hill in 54 save opportunities and they recorded 33 saves.

In 12,744 innings on the diamond, the Royals finished with a defensive efficiency of 67.5% (28th in professional baseball). Kansas City Royals turned 153 double plays and accounted for a fielding rate of .986 (10th in the majors). The Royals had 1,499 assists, 82 errors and had a total of 4,248 putouts in the prior season.

During his pro baseball career, Greinke has given up 3,049 base knocks while he has earned 2,882 K's in 3,247 frames. He has conceded 1,235 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 1.167 and being the owner of a FIP of 3.5. He has a K/BB ratio of 3.90 and he has faced 13,284 hitters thus far in his career. Greinke (223-141 career record) has a 3.42 earned run average while giving up 8.5 hits per 9 innings.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Minnesota (-164)

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