Kansas City Royals vs Minnesota Twins Predictions, MLB Picks, Betting Tips 8/16/2020

Game: Kansas City Royals vs Minnesota Twins

Date: Sunday, August 16, 2020

Location: Target Field in Minneapolis, MN

TV: FSN/FSKC

Odds/Point Spread: Royals (+175) Twins (-190)

Nelson Cruz and the Minnesota Twins (12-7, 1st in AL Central) play the Kansas City Royals (8-11, 5th in AL Central) at Target Field on Sunday. The moneyline on this game has the Royals priced at +175 and the Twins are at -190. The over/under has been set at 9.5. The pitchers who are expected to start are Brady Singer and Randy Dobnak.

Key Kansas City Royals Injuries

8/15/2020 Jake Junis SP Back Expected to be out until at least Aug 19
8/12/2020 Randy Rosario RP Arm Expected to be out until at least Aug 31
8/10/2020 Franchy Cordero RF Wrist Expected to be out until at least Sep 24
8/8/2020 Nick Heath CF Hamstring Expected to be out until at least Aug 21
8/8/2020 Mike Montgomery SP Lat Expected to be out until at least Sep 15
8/7/2020 Glenn Sparkman RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 18
7/31/2020 Foster Griffin RP Forearm Out for the season
7/16/2020 Kelvin Gutierrez 3B Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 1

Key Minnesota Twins Injuries

8/14/2020 Rich Hill SP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Aug 18
8/14/2020 Josh Donaldson 3B Calf Expected to be out until at least Aug 20
8/13/2020 Cody Stashak RP Back Expected to be out until at least Aug 24
8/9/2020 Homer Bailey SP Biceps Expected to be out until at least Aug 21

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Royals have a 8-11 overall record this season. Singer has taken the hill for 20 innings and has tallied 22 K's. His ERA is 4.50 (10 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.300. He has allowed 18 base hits (8.1 hits per 9 innings) and has had 8 walks. Singer (1-1 win-loss record) sits with a FIP of 4.80 while he has faced 83 opposing hitters. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.32 and they have given up 79 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .215 against the bullpen and they've struck out 89 hitters and walked 37 batters. As a team, Kansas City allows 8.4 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.9 batters per nine innings. They are 9th in the league in team earned run average at 4.01. The Royals pitchers collectively have given up 155 base hits and 74 earned runs. They have allowed 28 home runs this season, ranking them 7th in the league. Kansas City as a pitching staff has walked 68 batters and struck out 164. They have walked 3.7 men per 9 innings while striking out 8.9 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.34 and their FIP as a unit is 4.81.

Related: Get MLB predictions on all of today's games

Hitting Statistics

As a team Kansas City is hitting .255, good for 7th in the league. The Royals hold a .429 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .311, which is good for 21st in baseball. They rank 5th in MLB with 8.7 hits per game. Alex Gordon is hitting .175 with an on-base percentage of .254. He has 10 hits this season in 57 at bats with 4 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .263 and an OPS+ of 43. Whit Merrifield is hitting .293 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .357. He has totaled 22 hits and he has driven in 12 men in 75 at bats. His OPS+ is 134 while his slugging percentage is at .507. The Royals have 166 hits, including 41 doubles and 23 home runs. Kansas City has walked 48 times so far this season and they have struck out 165 times as a unit. They have left 125 men on base and have a team OPS of .740. They score 4.42 runs per contest and have scored a total of 84 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Minnesota has a 12-7 overall mark this year. Dobnak (5-2 career win-loss mark) has a 1.31 earned run average and has conceded 7.5 hits per 9 innings. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.40 and he has faced 194 batters in his pro baseball career. So far in his MLB career, Dobnak has allowed 40 hits and he has 34 strikeouts in 48 innings. He has allowed 7 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.040 and a FIP of 2.9. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.86 and they have given up 67 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .211 against the Twins bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 92 batters and walked 26 opposing hitters. As a team, Minnesota allows 7.4 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.5 batters per nine innings. They are 4th in the league in team earned run average at 3.48. The Twins pitchers as a team have surrendered 136 base knocks and 64 earned runs this season. They have given up 24 home runs this year, which ranks 14th in Major League Baseball. Minnesota as a staff has walked 54 hitters and struck out 157 batters. They give up a walk 2.9 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.5 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.15 while their FIP as a staff is 4.15.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .241, good for 14th in the league. The Twins hold a .421 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .318, which is good for 13th in baseball. They rank 17th in MLB with 7.9 hits per contest. Nelson Cruz comes into this matchup batting .329 with an OBP of .405. He has 23 hits this year along with 18 RBI in 70 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .543 with an OPS+ of 161. Jorge Polanco is hitting .288 this season and he has an OBP of .325. He has collected 21 hits in 73 at bats while driving in 8 runs. He has an OPS+ of 96 and a slugging percentage of .384. The Twins as a unit have 151 base hits, including 17 doubles and 32 homers. Minnesota has walked 64 times this year and they have struck out on 167 occasions. They have had 116 men left on base and have an OPS of .739. They have scored 5.16 runs per game and totaled 98 runs this season.

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

Guy's Pick: Take the Twins (-190)

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