Chicago White Sox vs Kansas City Royals Predictions, MLB Picks, Betting Tips 8/2/2020

Game: Chicago White Sox vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Sunday, August 2, 2020

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: NSCH/FSKC

Odds/Point Spread: White Sox (-137) Royals (+117)

Whit Merrifield and the Kansas City Royals (3-5, 5th in AL Central) play the Chicago White Sox (3-4, 4th in AL Central) at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday. The Royals open this matchup at +117 while the White Sox are coming in at -137. The total opens at 9.5. The starting pitchers will be Dylan Cease and Kyle Zimmer.

Key Chicago White Sox Injuries

8/1/2020 Jose Ruiz RP Undisclosed Expected to be out until at least Aug 1
7/31/2020 Tim Anderson SS Hip Probable for Aug 1
7/29/2020 Jimmy Lambert RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Aug 15
7/27/2020 Reynaldo Lopez SP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Aug 10
7/22/2020 Nomar Mazara RF Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 1

Key Kansas City Royals Injuries

8/1/2020 Jake Junis SP Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Aug 12
8/1/2020 Chance Adams RP Undisclosed Expected to be out until at least Aug 1
8/1/2020 Brad Keller SP Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Aug 6
8/1/2020 Cam Gallagher C Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 1
7/31/2020 Foster Griffin SP Forearm Out for the season
7/28/2020 Mike Montgomery RP Lat Expected to be out until at least Aug 14
7/23/2020 Randy Rosario RP Arm Expected to be out until at least Aug 3
7/22/2020 Hunter Dozier 3B Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 7
7/16/2020 Kelvin Gutierrez 3B Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 1

Useful Pitching Statistics

The White Sox have a 3-4 overall record this season. Cease (4-8 career win-loss record) has a FIP of 5.48 while he has faced 341 hitters in the majors. His ERA is 6.11 (51 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.598. He has surrendered 85 base hits (10.2 hits per nine innings) and has had 35 free passes. Cease has taken the hill for 75 innings and is sitting with 82 punchouts so far in his pro baseball career. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.71 and they have given up 25 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .180 against the bullpen and they've struck out 36 hitters and walked 11 batters. As a team, Chicago allows 8.8 hits per nine innings while striking out 8 batters per nine innings. They are 28th in the league in team earned run average at 6.23. The White Sox pitchers collectively have given up 51 base hits and 36 earned runs. They have allowed 10 home runs this season, ranking them 8th in the league. Chicago as a pitching staff has walked 21 batters and struck out 46. They have walked 3.6 men per 9 innings while striking out 8 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.39 and their FIP as a unit is 5.20.

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Hitting Statistics

As a team Chicago is hitting .255, good for 5th in the league. The White Sox hold a .457 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .308, which is good for 16th in baseball. They rank 6th in MLB with 8.8 hits per game. Yoan Moncada is hitting .333 with an on-base percentage of .391. He has 7 hits this season in 21 at bats with 4 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .571 and an OPS+ of 166. José Abreu is hitting .280 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .308. He has totaled 7 hits and he has driven in 3 men in 25 at bats. His OPS+ is 117 while his slugging percentage is at .480. The White Sox have 53 hits, including 12 doubles and 10 home runs. Chicago has walked 15 times so far this season and they have struck out 61 times as a unit. They have left 42 men on base and have a team OPS of .765. They score 4.5 runs per contest and have scored a total of 27 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Kansas City has a 3-5 overall mark this year. Thus far in his career, Zimmer has surrendered 30 base hits while totaling 22 K's in 21 frames. He has conceded 23 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 2.370 and a FIP of 5.3. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.10 and he has faced 115 batters so far in his pro baseball career. Zimmer (0-1 mark in his career) is the owner of a 9.81 ERA while surrendering 12.8 hits per 9 innings. The bullpen has an earned run average of 2.95 and they have given up 27 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .166 against the Royals bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 39 batters and walked 18 opposing hitters. As a team, Kansas City allows 7.4 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.7 batters per nine innings. They are 15th in the league in team earned run average at 4.05. The Royals pitchers as a team have surrendered 49 base knocks and 27 earned runs this season. They have given up 11 home runs this year, which ranks 4th in Major League Baseball. Kansas City as a staff has walked 24 hitters and struck out 58 batters. They give up a walk 3.6 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.7 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.22 while their FIP as a staff is 5.13.

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Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .228, good for 15th in the league. The Royals hold a .407 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .274, which is good for 29th in baseball. They rank 13th in MLB with 7.9 hits per contest. Whit Merrifield comes into this matchup batting .333 with an OBP of .400. He has 9 hits this year along with 7 RBI in 27 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .667 with an OPS+ of 197. Maikel Franco is hitting .286 this season and he has an OBP of .276. He has collected 8 hits in 28 at bats while driving in 7 runs. He has an OPS+ of 142 and a slugging percentage of .607. The Royals as a unit have 55 base hits, including 14 doubles and 9 homers. Kansas City has walked 11 times this year and they have struck out on 68 occasions. They have had 37 men left on base and have an OPS of .681. They have scored 4.43 runs per game and totaled 31 runs this season.

Who will win tonight's White Sox/Royals MLB game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take the White Sox (-137)

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