Kansas City Royals vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 8/24/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Kansas City Royals vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Monday, August 24, 2020

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: FSKC/FSMW

Odds/Point Spread: Royals (+166) Cardinals (-180)

Paul Goldschmidt and the St. Louis Cardinals (8-8, 2nd in NL Central) play the Kansas City Royals (11-16, 5th in AL Central) at Busch Stadium on Monday. The Cardinals open this game at -180 while the Royals are coming in at +166. The O/U has been set at 8. The starting pitchers will be Brad Keller and Jack Flaherty.

Key Kansas City Royals Injuries

8/23/2020 Nick Heath CF Hamstring Expected to be out until at least Aug 28
8/21/2020 Salvador Perez C Eye Expected to be out until at least Aug 28
8/16/2020 Daniel Tillo RP Elbow Out for the season
8/16/2020 Jake Junis SP Back Expected to be out until at least Aug 25
8/15/2020 Foster Griffin RP Elbow Out for the season
8/10/2020 Franchy Cordero RF Wrist Expected to be out until at least Sep 24
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
7/16/2020 Kelvin Gutierrez 3B Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 1

Key St. Louis Cardinals Injuries

8/23/2020 Edmundo Sosa 2B Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Aug 28
8/23/2020 Rangel Ravelo DH Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Aug 28
8/21/2020 Austin Dean LF Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 31
8/21/2020 Carlos Martinez SP Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Aug 28
8/21/2020 Kodi Whitley RP Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Aug 31
8/21/2020 Ryan Helsley RP Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 31
8/20/2020 Matt Wieters C Toe Expected to be out until at least Aug 30
8/20/2020 Lane Thomas CF Illness Expected to be out until at least Sep 1
8/19/2020 Junior Fernandez RP Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 25
8/11/2020 Miles Mikolas SP Forearm Out for the season
6/28/2020 John Brebbia RP Elbow Out for the season

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Royals have a 11-16 overall record this season. Keller has taken the ball for 322 innings and has accumulated 233 K's so far in his pro baseball career. His earned run average is 3.49 (125 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.312. He has given up 295 base hits (8.2 hits per 9 innings) and has had 128 walks. Keller (19-20 win-loss mark in his career) sits with a FIP of 3.94 while he has gone up against 1,358 opposing batters in the major leagues. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.62 and they have given up 102 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .213 against the bullpen and they've struck out 120 hitters and walked 50 batters. As a team, Kansas City allows 8.2 hits per nine innings while striking out 9.1 batters per nine innings. They are 9th in the league in team earned run average at 4. The Royals pitchers collectively have given up 206 base hits and 101 earned runs. They have allowed 39 home runs this season, ranking them 6th in the league. Kansas City as a pitching staff has walked 98 batters and struck out 230. They have walked 3.9 men per 9 innings while striking out 9.1 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.34 and their FIP as a unit is 4.87.

Related: How to Bet Parlays

Hitting Statistics

As a team Kansas City is hitting .249, good for 12th in the league. The Royals hold a .414 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .307, which is good for 25th in baseball. They rank 15th in MLB with 8.1 hits per game. Jorge Soler is hitting .250 with an on-base percentage of .336. He has 24 hits this season in 96 at bats with 14 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .479 and an OPS+ of 119. Ryan O'Hearn is hitting .228 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .297. He has totaled 13 hits and he has driven in 12 men in 57 at bats. His OPS+ is 68 while his slugging percentage is at .316. The Royals have 219 hits, including 48 doubles and 31 home runs. Kansas City has walked 66 times so far this season and they have struck out 236 times as a unit. They have left 168 men on base and have a team OPS of .721. They score 3.93 runs per contest and have scored a total of 106 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

St. Louis has a 8-8 overall mark this year. Flaherty (20-19 career record) has a 3.20 ERA while allowing 6.5 hits per 9 innings. He has a SO/W ratio of 3.51 and he has faced 1,517 opposing hitters so far in his pro baseball career. During his MLB career, Flaherty has conceded 273 hits while earning 442 punchouts in 376 innings pitched. He has allowed 134 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 1.060 and having a FIP of 3.7. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.51 and they have given up 33 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .138 against the Cardinals bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 67 batters and walked 29 opposing hitters. As a team, St. Louis allows 5.8 hits per nine innings while striking out 9.2 batters per nine innings. They are 3rd in the league in team earned run average at 3.45. The Cardinals pitchers as a team have surrendered 82 base knocks and 49 earned runs this season. They have given up 19 home runs this year, which ranks 30th in Major League Baseball. St. Louis as a staff has walked 54 hitters and struck out 131 batters. They give up a walk 3.8 times per 9 innings while they strike out 9.2 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.06 while their FIP as a staff is 4.49.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .224, good for 26th in the league. The Cardinals hold a .353 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .313, which is good for 23rd in baseball. They rank 29th in MLB with 6.6 hits per contest. Paul Goldschmidt comes into this matchup batting .347 with an OBP of .492. He has 17 hits this year along with 5 RBI in 49 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .490 with an OPS+ of 174. Dexter Fowler is hitting .279 this season and he has an OBP of .326. He has collected 12 hits in 43 at bats while driving in 5 runs. He has an OPS+ of 104 and a slugging percentage of .419. The Cardinals as a unit have 106 base hits, including 15 doubles and 14 homers. St. Louis has walked 51 times this year and they have struck out on 125 occasions. They have had 90 men left on base and have an OPS of .666. They have scored 3.88 runs per game and totaled 62 runs this season.

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

Parlays Pundit's Pick: Take the Cardinals (-180) and over 8 runs

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