Kansas City Royals vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 8/25/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Kansas City Royals vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: FSKC/FSMW

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

Matt Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals (9-8, 2nd in NL Central) play the Kansas City Royals (11-17, 5th in AL Central) at Busch Stadium on Tuesday. The Royals open this contest at +175 while the Cardinals are coming in at -190. The O/U has been set at 9. The pitchers who are expected to start are Matt Harvey and Adam Wainwright.

Key Kansas City Royals Injuries

8/24/2020 Danny Duffy SP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Aug 28
8/24/2020 Jake Junis SP Back Expected to be out until at least Aug 26
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
8/15/2020 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 Ryan Helsley RP Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Aug 31
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 Kodi Whitley RP Not Injury Related 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
8/20/2020 Lane Thomas CF Illness Expected to be out until at least Sep 1
8/20/2020 Matt Wieters C Toe Expected to be out until at least Aug 30
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 11-17 overall record this season. Harvey has taken the mound for 830 innings and has 766 punchouts in his pro baseball career. His ERA is 4.06 (374 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.229. He has given up 786 base knocks (8.5 hits per 9 innings) and has had 234 walks. Harvey (44-50 career win-loss mark) is the owner of a FIP of 3.88 while he has gone up against 3,467 opposing hitters during his time in the major leagues. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.52 and they have given up 106 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .211 against the bullpen and they've struck out 126 hitters and walked 53 batters. As a team, Kansas City allows 8.4 hits per nine innings while striking out 9 batters per nine innings. They are 8th in the league in team earned run average at 4.04. The Royals pitchers collectively have given up 219 base hits and 106 earned runs. They have allowed 40 home runs this season, ranking them 6th in the league. Kansas City as a pitching staff has walked 103 batters and struck out 236. They have walked 3.9 men per 9 innings while striking out 9 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.36 and their FIP as a unit is 4.86.

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Hitting Statistics

As a team Kansas City is hitting .249, good for 12th in the league. The Royals hold a .410 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .308, which is good for 25th in baseball. They rank 13th in MLB with 8.1 hits per game. Whit Merrifield is hitting .312 with an on-base percentage of .367. He has 34 hits this season in 109 at bats with 18 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .505 and an OPS+ of 135. Hunter Dozier is hitting .275 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .408. He has totaled 11 hits and he has driven in 7 men in 40 at bats. His OPS+ is 158 while his slugging percentage is at .550. The Royals have 228 hits, including 51 doubles and 31 home runs. Kansas City has walked 70 times so far this season and they have struck out 246 times as a unit. They have left 179 men on base and have a team OPS of .718. They score 3.93 runs per contest and have scored a total of 110 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

St. Louis has a 9-8 overall mark this year. Wainwright (164-95 win-loss mark in his career) has a 3.38 ERA while allowing 8.6 hits per 9 innings. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.08 and he has faced 8,810 opposing batters during his career. In his career, Wainwright has allowed 2,023 hits while he has earned 1,788 strikeouts in 2,121 innings. He has given up a total of 796 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 1.227 and having a FIP of 3.5. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.27 and they have given up 33 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .131 against the Cardinals bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 68 batters and walked 31 opposing hitters. As a team, St. Louis allows 5.6 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.8 batters per nine innings. They are 3rd in the league in team earned run average at 3.35. The Cardinals pitchers as a team have surrendered 85 base knocks and 51 earned runs this season. They have given up 20 home runs this year, which ranks 30th in Major League Baseball. St. Louis as a staff has walked 60 hitters and struck out 134 batters. They give up a walk 3.9 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.8 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.06 while their FIP as a staff is 4.59.

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Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .232, good for 21st in the league. The Cardinals hold a .370 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .322, which is good for 15th in baseball. They rank 27th in MLB with 6.9 hits per contest. Matt Carpenter comes into this matchup batting .222 with an OBP of .333. He has 12 hits this year along with 12 RBI in 54 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .333 with an OPS+ of 85. Paul DeJong is hitting .190 this season and he has an OBP of .261. He has collected 4 hits in 21 at bats while driving in 4 runs. He has an OPS+ of 73 and a slugging percentage of .381. The Cardinals as a unit have 118 base hits, including 18 doubles and 16 homers. St. Louis has walked 57 times this year and they have struck out on 133 occasions. They have had 102 men left on base and have an OPS of .692. They have scored 4 runs per game and totaled 68 runs this season.

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

Tony's Pick: Take the Royals (+175)

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