Tampa Bay Rays vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, 7/16/2023 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Tampa Bay Rays vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Sunday, July 16, 2023

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: Bally Sports Kansas City

The Tampa Bay Rays (58-35) are en route to Kauffman Stadium on Sunday where they will meet the Kansas City Royals (26-65). The expected starting pitchers will be Shane McClanahan and Jordan Lyles.

Tampa Bay has a slugging rate of .452 and have struck out 799 times, while taking a walk on 303 occasions. They have earned 483 RBI's and 809 hits so far this season, and their average at the plate comes in at .259. The Rays have recorded 168 doubles as a unit and have knocked 137 balls out of the park. They have tallied 506 runs scored while holding a team on-base percentage of .331. As a team, the Tampa Bay Rays are notching 5.4 runs per game, which ranks them 4th in the league.

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They have earned a K/BB ratio of 2.84 and their pitching staff sits with a WHIP of 1.20. Rays pitchers have surrendered 96 long balls and also 357 total runs (3rd in baseball). Tampa Bay has given up 698 hits (7.6 per 9 innings) in addition to 338 earned runs. The Rays have an ERA of 3.70 on the campaign (4th in the league), and the staff has struck out 827 hitters. Their pitching staff has walked 291 opposing players and their FIP sits at 4.00 as a team on the campaign.

The Rays have sent 303 relievers to the hill for the season. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 114 base runners on the season with 22.8% of those runners earned a run for their team. They have earned 25 saves over the course of the season and have blown 17 of their 42 chances to get a save. The Rays relief pitchers have earned a save rate of 59.5% and has entered the game in 87 save situations. The relievers have 45 holds this year (19th in baseball). Rays relief pitchers have come into the game with runners on 73 times as well as having 88 appearances in high leverage situations.

The Rays have turned 71.2% of balls in play into outs in their 7,407 innings on the field, which has them sitting 1st in pro baseball. The Tampa Bay Rays have 2,469 putouts over the course of the season, in addition to 837 assists and 38 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .989 which has them sitting 4th in the majors, and have 77 double plays.

McClanahan has pitched in 385 frames and has accumulated 436 K's in his career. McClanahan (33-15 win-loss record in his career) has earned a FIP of 3.31 while facing 1,547 hitters in the majors. His earned run average is 2.82 (121 ER's allowed) and his WHIP is 1.097. He has given up 310 hits (7.2 hits per nine innings) with 113 walks.

Kansas City has recorded 78 long balls so far this season to go along with 322 RBIs. They have 145 doubles, while getting a free base 238 times as well as putting up 337 runs. The Kansas City Royals have recorded an on-base percentage of .295 and a team batting average of .232 on the season. The Royals hold a slugging percentage of .371 and they average 3.70 runs per contest (29th in baseball). They have been rung up on 829 occasions (6th in baseball) and have accounted for 702 hits.

The Royals have a WHIP of 1.447 with a FIP of 4.57 as a staff for the year. They come in at 25th in the league as a staff in total hits allowed with 813. The Kansas City pitching staff have allowed 492 runs on the season while holding a team ERA of 5.27 (463 earned runs conceded). They have earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 8.20 (720 strikeouts against 330 bases on balls). They have yielded 106 home runs and they concede 5.60 runs per 9 innings (28th in baseball).

Kansas City relievers hold an inherited score rate of 39.6% out of their 101 inherited runners. Their relief pitchers have taken the field 71 times in high leverage situations and on 61 occasions with runners on. With 51 save situations, the Royals have accumulated 26 holds in addition to 12 blown saves. They sit at 25th in the league with a save rate of 52.0%, and they have sent 298 relievers to the hill on the season. Kansas City has had bullpen pitchers step onto the hill in 25 save chances and they have walked away with 13 saves.

The Kansas City Royals have turned 67 double plays and have a fielding percentage of .986 (16th in the majors). The Royals have racked up 763 assists, 45 errors and have amassed 2,371 putouts over the course of the season. Out of their 7,113 innings on the diamond, the Royals have earned a defensive efficiency of 67.7% (27th in professional baseball).

In his career, Lyles has surrendered 1,543 base knocks while he has earned 1,091 strikeouts in 1,423 innings. He has given up 821 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.419 and a FIP of 4.7. His strikeout to walk ratio is 2.29 and he has faced 6,232 batters during his career. Lyles (67-101 record in his career) holds 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?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Kansas City

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