Kansas City Royals vs Houston Astros Prediction, 8/31/2024 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Kansas City Royals vs Houston Astros

Date: Saturday, August 31, 2024

Location: Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX

TV: Bally Sports Kansas City

Minute Maid Park is the location where the Houston Astros (71-62) will attempt to beat the Kansas City Royals (75-59) on Saturday. The expected starting pitchers are Cole Ragans and Yusei Kikuchi.

The Royals have earned 235 doubles as a unit and have hit 153 balls out of the stadium. Kansas City is slugging .425 and have been called out on strikes 911 times, while taking a walk on 350 occasions. As a unit, the Kansas City Royals are recording 4.9 runs per game, which has them sitting at 6th in baseball. They have accrued 636 RBI's and 1,165 base knocks on the year, and their average at the plate is sitting at .258. They have notched a total of 654 runs while holding a team OBP of .314.

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Their strikeout to walk ratio is 2.72 and their pitching staff holds a WHIP of 1.27. Royals pitchers have given up 125 long balls in addition to 549 runs in total (8th in the league). Kansas City has given up 1,106 base hits (8.4 per 9 innings) and 509 earned runs. The Royals have an ERA of 3.88 for the year (11th in MLB), and the staff has rung up 1,072 batters. Their pitching staff has walked 394 opposing players and their FIP sits at 3.88 as a squad on the season.

The Royals have sent 415 relievers to the hill on the campaign. The relief pitchers have inherited 188 runners this year and 28.2% of those runners ended up scoring. They have recorded 34 saves over the course of the season and have blown 20 out of their 54 chances to save the game. The Royals bullpen have accumulated a save percentage of 63.0% and has stepped onto the mound in 120 save situations. The relievers have accumulated 64 holds on the season (19th in MLB). Royals relief pitchers have entered the game with runners on base 106 times and also have had 122 appearances in high leverage situations.

The Royals have turned 69.4% of balls hit into play into outs in their 10,617 innings, which has them sitting at 20th in the majors. The Kansas City Royals have 3,539 putouts thus far, in addition to 1,198 assists and 68 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .986 which ranks 11th in the majors, and have a total of 107 double plays.

Ragans has thrown 292 innings and has 327 punch outs during his career. Ragans (17-16 career win-loss record) has a FIP of 3.52 and he has gone up against 1,211 hitters during his time in the major leagues. His earned run average is 3.57 (116 earned runs allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.205. He has given up 241 hits (7.4 hits per 9 innings) and has had 111 free passes.

The Astros hold a team slugging % of .419 and they average 4.56 runs per contest (12th in MLB). They have put up 213 doubles, while walking 360 times and scoring 607 runs. Houston has a total of 160 HRs on the year to go along with 580 RBIs. They have struck out on 964 instances (28th in baseball) and have tallied 1,192 hits. The Houston Astros hold an on-base percentage of .321 and a team batting average of .261 on the campaign.

The Astros have a WHIP of 1.249 with a FIP of 4.08 as a unit this year. Their strikeout to walk ratio comes in at 9.30 (1,218 strikeouts against 470 bases on balls). They are sitting at 2nd in MLB as a pitching staff in total hits relinquished with 1,005. They have conceded 150 long balls and they concede 4.04 runs per 9 innings (4th in the league). The Houston pitching staff have relinquished 530 runs for the season while holding an ERA of 3.77 (495 earned runs conceded).

With 130 save situations, the Astros have recorded 76 holds in addition to 20 blown saves. Houston has called on bullpen pitchers to enter the contest in 53 save chances and they have tallied 33 saves. Their relief pitchers have come in 125 times in high leverage situations and on 79 occasions with runners on base. Houston relief pitchers hold an inherited score percentage of 27.1% of 118 inherited base runners. They rank 18th in MLB with a save rate of 62.3%, and they have dispatched 419 relievers to the mound on the campaign.

The Houston Astros have gotten 111 double plays and have accounted for a fielding rate of .986 (9th in professional baseball). The Astros have recorded 1,071 assists, 65 errors and are sitting with 3,543 putouts during this campaign. In their 10,629 innings on the field, the Astros have a defensive efficiency of 70.8% (6th in professional baseball).

So far in his career, Kikuchi has allowed 782 hits while he has tallied 796 strikeouts in 777 innings. He has conceded a total of 402 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.365 and a FIP of 4.6. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.86 and he has faced 3,345 opposing batters during his MLB career. Kikuchi (38-46 career win-loss record) has a 4.66 ERA and has surrendered 9.1 hits per 9 innings.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Kansas City

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