Texas Rangers vs Houston Astros Prediction, 4/15/2023 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Texas Rangers vs Houston Astros

Date: Saturday, April 15, 2023

Location: Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX

TV: AT&T SportsNet Southwest

Odds/Point Spread: Texas (+190) Houston (-225)

The Texas Rangers (7-5) are hitting the road to Minute Maid Park on Saturday where they will play the Houston Astros (6-7). The moneyline on this game has Texas at +190 and Houston is priced at -225. The over/under has been set at 7.5. The pitchers who are expected to start will be Jon Gray and Hunter Brown.

Texas owns a slugging percentage of .410 and have struck out 99 times, while being walked on 37 occasions. They have 64 runs batted in in addition to 97 hits for the year, and their batting average comes in at .243. The Rangers have earned 23 doubles as a team and have knocked 14 baseballs out of the park. They have 67 runs scored and hold an OBP of .310. As a unit, the Texas Rangers are putting up 5.6 runs per game, which ranks them 4th in MLB.

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The Rangers have an ERA of 3.95 for the season (9th in baseball), and the staff has rung up 123 hitters. Rangers pitchers have relinquished 10 home runs and 53 runs in total (10th in MLB). Their pitching staff has walked 34 hitters and their FIP comes in at 3.29 as a unit so far this season. Texas has relinquished 100 hits (8.4 per 9 innings) as well as 47 earned runs. They have earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.62 and the pitching staff holds a WHIP of 1.25.

Rangers relief pitchers have entered the game with runners on base 12 times in addition to having 6 appearances in high leverage situations. The bullpen have recorded 6 holds so far this season (19th in MLB). The Rangers bullpen have recorded a save percentage of 66.7% and has entered the game in 10 save situations. They have earned 2 saves so far this year and have blown 1 of 3 chances to save the game. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 20 runners on the campaign with 35.0% of those players crossed the plate. The Rangers have dispatched 34 relief pitchers to the mound on the year.

The Rangers have turned 65.5% of balls hit into play into outs out of 963 innings, which has them ranked 27th in professional baseball. The Texas Rangers have a tally of 321 putouts over the course of the season, as well as 89 assists and 8 errors. Their fielding percentage is at .981 which ranks 26th in baseball, and have earned 12 double plays.

Gray has taken the mound for 968 innings and has totaled 994 strikeouts thus far in his career. His ERA is 4.49 (483 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.310. He has allowed 945 hits (8.8 hits per nine innings) with 324 free passes. Gray (61-57 career win-loss record) has earned a FIP of 3.92 while facing 4,125 hitters during his time in the majors.

The Astros have a team SLG% of .392 and they have an average of 5.08 runs per game (9th in MLB). They have put up 20 doubles, while getting a free base 50 times as well as scoring 66 runs. Houston has recorded 14 home runs for the season to go along with 64 runs batted in. They have struck out on 113 occasions (16th in MLB) and have earned 116 hits. The Houston Astros have a team OBP of .337 and a team batting average of .256 for the year.

The Houston pitching staff have conceded 53 runs on the season while holding an ERA of 3.76 (49 earned runs yielded). They have conceded 14 homers and they allow 4.07 runs per 9 innings (5th in baseball). The Astros have a WHIP of 1.314 in addition to having a FIP of 4.10 as a squad over the course of the season. They have earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 9.20 (120 strikeouts vs 40 walks). They rank 21st in baseball as a staff in total hits allowed with 114.

Houston relief pitchers hold an inherited score percentage of 30.0% out of their 10 inherited base runners. Their relievers have stepped onto the hill 13 times in high leverage situations in addition to 7 occasions with runners on base. With 7 save situations, the Astros have recorded 2 holds in addition to 3 blown saves. They sit at 27th in the league with a save percentage of 40.0%, and they have sent 43 bullpen pitchers to the mound on the campaign. Houston has called on relievers to step onto the hill in 5 save chances and they have walked away with 2 saves.

The Houston Astros have turned 8 double plays and have a fielding percentage of .994 (3rd in pro baseball). The Astros have accrued 123 assists, 3 errors and have a total of 353 putouts so far this year. Out of their 1,059 innings on the diamond, the Astros hold a defensive efficiency of 68.3% (18th in pro baseball).

Brown (3-0 career record) has earned a 1.69 ERA while giving up 6.5 hits per 9 innings. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.83 and he has faced 126 opposing batters thus far in his career. He has conceded a total of 6 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.094 and being the owner of a FIP of 2.3. So far in his MLB career, Brown has surrendered 23 base hits while totaling 34 K's in 32 innings.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Houston (-225)

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