St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, 8/12/2023 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Saturday, August 12, 2023

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: Bally Sports Kansas City

Odds/Point Spread: St. Louis (-155) Kansas City (+130)

Kauffman Stadium is where the Kansas City Royals (37-80) will compete against the St. Louis Cardinals (51-65) on Saturday. The line on this contest has St. Louis at -155 and Kansas City is coming in at +130. The betting total comes in at 10. The starting pitchers will be Steven Matz and Cole Ragans.

St. Louis has a slugging percentage of .432 and have struck out 955 times, while taking a walk on 390 occasions. They have 519 RBI's in addition to 1,022 base knocks on the season, while their average at the plate comes in at .257. The Cardinals have accrued 191 two-baggers as a squad and have smacked 161 balls out of the park. They have earned 538 runs and have an on-base percentage of .330. As a team, the St. Louis Cardinals are notching 4.6 runs per outing, which has them sitting at 12th in the league.

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The Cardinals hold a team earned run average of 4.49 over the course of the season (22nd in baseball), and their staff has rung up 924 batters. Cardinals pitchers have surrendered 111 long balls and also 563 runs in total (24th in the league). They have walked 379 opposing batters and their FIP is 4.12 as a team so far this year. St. Louis has given up 1,084 base hits (9.5 per 9 innings) as well as 511 earned runs. They have earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.44 and the pitching staff has a team WHIP of 1.43.

Cardinals pitchers have entered the game with runners on 125 times in addition to having 127 appearances in high leverage situations. The relievers have a total of 58 holds over the course of the season (16th in MLB). The Cardinals relievers have earned a save rate of 52.0% and has come into the game in 108 save situations. They have earned 26 saves so far this year and have blown 24 out of their 50 save opportunities. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 205 base runners on the season with 30.2% of those players crossed the plate. The Cardinals have sent 345 relief pitchers to the mound so far this year.

The St. Louis Cardinals have earned 3,070 putouts this season, in addition to 1,112 assists and 43 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .990 which puts them in 2nd in MLB, and have 102 double plays. The Cardinals have transformed 66.8% of baseballs in play into outs out of 9,210 innings on the diamond, which has them sitting at 30th in professional baseball.

Matz has taken the hill for 877 frames and is sitting with 843 punch outs during his career. Matz (53-58 win-loss mark in his career) holds a FIP of 4.25 and he has gone up against 3,762 opposing batters during his time in the majors. His ERA is 4.26 (415 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.324. He has allowed 897 base hits (9.2 hits per nine innings) with 265 free passes.

The Kansas City Royals hold an on-base percentage of .297 as well as a team batting average of .239 for the season. They have been called out on strikes on 1,022 instances (12th in MLB) and have earned a total of 935 hits. Kansas City has hit 111 HRs for the year and 436 RBIs. The Royals have a team SLG% of .389 and they average 3.88 runs per contest (29th in MLB). They have 193 doubles, while getting a free base 288 times and putting up 454 runs.

The Kansas City pitching staff have given up 617 runs this season and come in with a team ERA of 5.16 (583 earned runs conceded). They have surrendered 141 homers and they allow 5.46 runs per 9 innings (28th in the league). The Royals have a WHIP of 1.403 and have a FIP of 4.59 as a team so far this season. They currently have a strikeout to walk ratio of 8.00 (903 strikeouts against 397 free passes). They have a ranking of 25th in baseball as a staff in total hits allowed with 1,030.

Kansas City relievers have an inherited score percentage of 40.0% out of their 120 inherited runners. Their bullpen pitchers have taken the field 94 times in high leverage situations and on 74 occasions with runners on base. With 77 save situations, the Royals have earned 43 holds and 17 blown saves. They rank 28th in MLB holding a save rate of 50.0%, and they have dispatched 375 relievers to the hill so far this year. Kansas City has called on bullpen pitchers to take the mound in 34 save chances and they have recorded 17 saves.

Out of their 9,153 innings on the field, the Royals hold a defensive efficiency of 68.6% (20th in the majors). The Kansas City Royals have gotten 86 double plays and have a fielding percentage of .987 (9th in pro baseball). The Royals have accrued 1,001 assists, 52 errors and have amassed 3,051 putouts for the season.

Thus far in his career, Ragans has given up 78 base knocks while earning 73 K's in 82 innings. Ragans (3-6 win-loss mark in his career) has a 4.39 ERA while conceding 8.6 hits per nine innings. He has given up 40 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 1.366 and a FIP of 4.3. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.15 and he has faced 350 batters thus far in his career.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take St. Louis (-155)

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