Houston Astros vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, 4/9/2024 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds
Game: Houston Astros vs Kansas City Royals
Date: Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO
TV: Bally Sports Kansas City
Kauffman Stadium is the location where the Kansas City Royals (6-4) will take on the Houston Astros (3-7) on Tuesday. The expected starting pitchers will be Cristian Javier and Cole Ragans.
As a team, the Houston Astros are notching 3.7 runs per outing, which puts them at 22nd in MLB. They have 37 runs scored and have an OBP of .323. The Astros have accounted for 14 two-baggers as a squad and have hit 14 baseballs out of the park. They have 34 RBI's as well as 86 hits for the season, while their average at the plate is at .254. Houston has a slugging % of .420 and have been called out on strikes 68 times, while taking a walk on 32 occasions.
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They have a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.72 and the pitching staff has a collective WHIP of 1.43. Astros pitchers have given up 8 home runs and also 41 runs in total (13th in baseball). Houston has relinquished 80 base knocks (8.2 per 9 innings) in addition to 38 earned runs. The Astros are sitting with a team earned run average of 3.89 this year (14th in MLB), and they have struck out 79 batters. Their pitching staff has walked 46 players from the other team and their FIP sits at 4.24 as a unit on the season.
The Astros have dispatched 33 relief pitchers to the hill so far this year. The relief pitchers have inherited 11 base runners this season with 27.3% of those runners earned a run for their team. They have earned 1 save so far this season and have missed out on 4 of 5 save chances. The Astros relievers have recorded a save percentage of 20.0% and has entered the game in 9 save situations. The relief pitchers are sitting with 4 holds for the season (24th in MLB). Astros pitchers have entered the contest with opponents on base 7 times in addition to having 7 appearances in high leverage situations.
The Houston Astros have amassed 264 putouts thus far, in addition to 94 assists and 3 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .992 which has them ranked 7th in pro baseball, and have earned 11 double plays. The Astros have turned 69.9% of baseballs in play into outs in their 792 innings on the diamond, which has them sitting at 13th in professional baseball.
Javier (31-17 record in his career) has earned a FIP of 4.11 and he has gone up against 1,953 opposing batters in the major leagues. He has given up 340 hits (6.4 hits per nine innings) and has 191 walks. His earned run average is 3.49 (185 ER's allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.112. Javier has taken the mound for 477 frames and has racked up 546 strikeouts so far in his pro baseball career.
The Kansas City Royals have a team OBP of .306 and a team batting average of .248 so far this season. They have been rung up on 79 instances (16th in MLB) and have earned a total of 82 hits. Kansas City has tallied 14 home runs so far this season and 39 RBIs. The Royals hold a slugging % of .435 and they average 4.40 runs per game (15th in MLB). They have notched 16 doubles, while taking a walk 27 times and putting up 44 runs.
The Kansas City pitching staff have conceded 25 runs this season while holding a team ERA of 2.53 (25 earned runs given up). They have allowed 4 homers and they yield 2.53 runs per 9 innings (3rd in MLB). The Royals are sitting with a team WHIP of 1.067 and have a FIP of 3.16 as a unit so far this season. Their K/BB ratio is 8.20 (81 strikeouts vs 29 bases on balls). They sit at 9th in the league as a staff in total hits given up with 66.
Kansas City has had relief pitchers take the mound in 6 save chances and they have come away with 4 saves. They rank 13th in baseball with a save rate of 66.7%, and they have sent 30 relief pitchers to the mound this year. Their relievers have stepped onto the hill 15 times in high leverage situations and on 6 occasions with runners on. Kansas City relief pitchers have an inherited score percentage of 20.0% out of 10 inherited base runners. Sitting with 14 save situations, the Royals have 8 holds in addition to 2 blown saves.
The Kansas City Royals have turned 9 double plays and own a fielding percentage of .986 (13th in MLB). The Royals have racked up 96 assists, 5 errors and have 267 putouts for the year. In 801 innings on the field, the Royals have earned a defensive efficiency of 72.5% (7th in pro baseball).
In his career, Ragans has allowed 119 base knocks while he has accumulated 156 punch outs in 148 innings pitched. Ragans (7-9 career record) holds a 3.70 ERA while conceding 7.2 hits per nine innings. He has given up a total of 61 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.220 and being the owner of a FIP of 3.6. His strikeout to walk ratio is 2.52 and he has faced 614 hitters in his MLB career.
Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread or moneyline?
Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Kansas City
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Additional Resources:
Kansas City Royals - Twitter
Houston Astros - Twitter