Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, 4/1/2023 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Saturday, April 1, 2023

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: Bally Sports Kansas City

Odds/Point Spread: Minnesota (-150) Kansas City (+130)

Kauffman Stadium is where the Kansas City Royals (65-97 last season) will compete against the Minnesota Twins (78-84 last year) on Saturday. The odds on this game have Minnesota at -150 while Kansas City is sitting at +130. The over/under comes in at 8.5. The expected starting pitchers will be Sonny Gray and Jordan Lyles.

The Twins compiled 269 two-baggers as a team and hit 178 balls out of the park. Minnesota had a slugging rate of .401 and were rung up 1,353 times, while drawing a walk on 518 occasions. As a team, the Minnesota Twins compiled 4.3 runs per game, which ranked them 17th in baseball. They accrued 668 RBI's in addition to 1,356 hits last year, and their batting average was .248. They notched a total of 696 runs while having a team OBP of .317.

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The Twins finished with a team earned run average of 3.98 during the previous year (19th in MLB), and they struck out 1,336 hitters. They walked 468 opposing players and their FIP was 4.03 as a squad over the course of last season. They accumulated a K/BB ratio of 2.85 and the pitching staff finished with a WHIP of 1.24. Twins pitchers surrendered 184 home runs in addition to 684 runs (14th in MLB).

The Twins had sent 549 relief pitchers to the mound in the prior season. The bullpen inherited 182 base runners for the prior year with 29.1% of them earned a run for their team. They earned 28 saves for the prior year and missed out on 27 of their 55 chances to save the game. The Twins relievers had a save percentage of 50.9% and stepped onto the mound in 157 save situations. The relievers racked up 100 holds over the course of last season (7th in MLB). Twins bullpen pitchers entered the contest with runners on 133 times in addition to having 167 contests in high leverage situations.

The Twins converted 70.2% of balls hit into play into outs out of 12,933 innings, which had them ranked 12th in professional baseball. The Minnesota Twins notched a total of 4,311 putouts in the previous season, in addition to 1,306 assists and 83 errors. Their fielding rate was at .985 which put them in 16th in the majors, and accumulated 121 double plays.

Gray (90-77 win-loss record in his career) sits with a FIP of 3.67 while he has gone up against 5,774 batters during his time in the major leagues. He has given up 1,192 base hits (7.7 hits per 9 innings) and has had 489 free passes. His ERA is 3.56 (549 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.212. Gray has taken the mound for 1,387 innings and has tallied 1,338 strikeouts during his MLB career.

Kansas City recorded 138 home runs last year in addition to 613 RBIs. They put up 247 two-baggers, while getting a free base 460 times and notching 640 runs. The Kansas City Royals earned a team OBP of .306 and a batting average of .244 during the previous year. The Royals had a team slugging % of .380 and they scored 3.95 runs per contest (24th in baseball). They were rung up on 1,287 instances (23rd in the league) and had a total of 1,327 base knocks.

The Royals finished with a team WHIP of 1.470 and were the owners of a FIP of 4.42 as a squad during the previous year. They were ranked 29th in MLB as a pitching staff in total hits given up with 1,493. The Kansas City pitching staff surrendered 810 runs over the course of the prior season while holding a team ERA of 4.70 (740 earned runs surrendered). Their K/BB ratio was 2.02 (1,191 strikeouts against 589 free passes). They conceded 173 HR's and they gave up 5.15 runs per 9 innings (26th in the league).

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

Kansas City Royals twisted 153 double plays and earned a fielding percentage of .986 (10th in MLB). The Royals had 1,499 assists, 82 errors and earned 4,248 putouts over the course of last year. Out of their 12,744 innings on the field, the Royals had a efficiency on defense of 67.5% (28th in pro baseball).

So far in his MLB career, Lyles has surrendered 1,448 hits while he has accumulated 1,022 strikeouts in 1,326 innings pitched. Lyles (66-90 win-loss mark in his career) has a 5.10 ERA while conceding 9.8 hits per 9 innings. He has conceded a total of 752 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.428 and having a FIP of 4.7. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.29 and he has faced 5,819 hitters so far in his career.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Kansas City (+130)

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