Tampa Bay Rays vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, 7/15/2023 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Tampa Bay Rays vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Saturday, July 15, 2023

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: Bally Sports Kansas City

Odds/Point Spread: Tampa Bay (-195) Kansas City (+165)

The Kansas City Royals (26-65) are hosting the Tampa Bay Rays (58-35) at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday. The moneyline on this matchup has the Rays at -195 and the Royals are priced at +165. The over/under comes in at 8.5. The pitchers expected to start will be Zach Eflin and Jordan Lyles.

As a unit, the Tampa Bay Rays are scoring 5.4 runs per game, which has them at 4th in the league. They have accumulated 506 runs scored while having a team on-base percentage of .331. The Rays have tallied 168 doubles as a squad and have hit 137 baseballs out of the park. They have 483 RBI's in addition to 809 base knocks this season, and their average at the plate comes in at .259. Tampa Bay has a slugging rate of .452 and have struck out 799 times, while drawing a walk on 303 occasions.

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The Rays are sitting with a team ERA of 3.70 so far this year (4th in the league), and their staff has struck out 827 batters. Rays pitchers have conceded 96 home runs and also 357 runs in total (3rd in MLB). Their pitching staff has walked 291 opposing hitters and their FIP sits at 4.00 as a squad on the campaign. Tampa Bay has given up 698 base hits (7.6 per 9 innings) and also 338 earned runs. They have accumulated a K/BB ratio of 2.84 and the pitching staff has earned a collective WHIP of 1.20.

The Rays relief pitchers have accumulated a save rate of 59.5% and has entered the game in 87 save situations. The relievers have inherited 114 base runners so far this season with 22.8% of them earned a run for their team. Rays pitchers have gone to the mound with runners on 73 times in addition to having 88 appearances in high leverage situations. The Rays have sent 303 relievers to the mound on the campaign. The relief pitchers have tallied 45 holds on the year (19th in the league). They have tallied 25 saves this year and have not converted 17 of their 42 chances to get a save.

The Rays have turned 71.2% of balls hit into play into outs out of their 7,407 innings, ranking them 1st in baseball. The Tampa Bay Rays have accumulated 2,469 putouts on the campaign, as well as 837 assists and 38 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .989 which ranks 4th in pro baseball, and have earned 77 double plays.

Eflin has taken the hill for 761 frames and has 657 strikeouts during his pro baseball career. Eflin (46-49 win-loss record in his career) sits with a FIP of 4.20 and he has faced 3,206 hitters during his time in the major leagues. His ERA is 4.32 (366 ER's allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.254. He has allowed 780 hits (9.2 hits per 9 innings) and has 175 walks.

Kansas City is sitting with 78 home runs on the season to go along with 322 runs batted in. They have tallied 145 doubles, while getting a free base 238 times and earning 337 runs. The Kansas City Royals have a team OBP of .295 in addition to a team batting average of .232 on the season. The Royals have a team slugging percentage of .371 and they have an average of 3.70 runs per contest (29th in baseball). They have been called out on strikes on 829 instances (6th in MLB) and have earned a total of 702 hits.

The Royals have a team WHIP of 1.447 in addition to having a FIP of 4.57 as a team this season. They have a ranking of 25th in baseball as a staff in total hits surrendered with 813. The Kansas City pitching staff have given up 492 runs so far this year and come in with a team ERA of 5.27 (463 earned runs conceded). They have earned a K/BB ratio of 8.20 (720 strikeouts vs 330 free passes). They have yielded 106 home runs and they allow 5.60 runs per 9 innings (28th in baseball).

Kansas City has had relief pitchers step onto the mound in 25 save chances and they have tallied 13 saves. They rank 25th in the league holding a save percentage of 52.0%, and they have dispatched 298 relief pitchers to the hill so far this year. Their relievers have come in 71 times in high leverage situations and on 61 occasions with base runners. Kansas City relievers hold an inherited score percentage of 39.6% out of 101 inherited runners. Sitting with 51 save situations, the Royals have earned 26 holds and 12 blown saves.

Out of their 7,113 innings on the diamond, the Royals have accumulated a defensive efficiency of 67.7% (27th in pro baseball). The Kansas City Royals have gotten 67 double plays and have a fielding percentage of .986 (16th in the majors). The Royals have 763 assists, 45 errors and have 2,371 putouts so far this season.

In his pro baseball career, Lyles has given up 1,543 hits while he has earned 1,091 K's in 1,423 innings. He has conceded 821 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.419 and being the owner of a FIP of 4.7. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.29 and he has faced 6,232 batters during his pro baseball career. Lyles (67-101 career record) has earned a 5.19 ERA while giving up 9.8 hits per nine innings.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Tampa Bay (-195)

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