Kansas City Royals vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 8/26/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Kansas City Royals vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: FSKC/FSMW

Odds/Point Spread: Royals (+161) Cardinals (-175)

Hunter Dozier and the Kansas City Royals (11-18, 5th in AL Central) travel to Busch Stadium on Wednesday where they'll take on the St. Louis Cardinals (10-8, 2nd in NL Central). The Cardinals open this matchup at -175 while the Royals are priced at +161. The O/U is set at 9. The starting pitchers are Ian Kennedy and Dakota Hudson.

Key Kansas City Royals Injuries

8/25/2020 Tyler Zuber RP Bereavement List Expected to be out until at least Aug 29
8/24/2020 Jake Junis SP Back Expected to be out until at least Aug 26
8/24/2020 Danny Duffy SP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Aug 28
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

Key St. Louis Cardinals Injuries

8/25/2020 Junior Fernandez RP Illness 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
8/23/2020 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
8/21/2020 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

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Royals have a 11-18 overall record this season. Kennedy has taken the mound for 1,779 frames and has 1,646 punchouts so far in his MLB career. His earned run average is 4.12 (815 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.283. He has allowed 1,682 base knocks (8.5 hits per 9 innings) with 601 walks. Kennedy (97-104 career win-loss mark) has a FIP of 4.34 while he has gone up against 7,551 opposing hitters during his time in the majors. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.71 and they have given up 112 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .213 against the bullpen and they've struck out 128 hitters and walked 57 batters. As a team, Kansas City allows 8.5 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.9 batters per nine innings. They are 11th in the league in team earned run average at 4.24. The Royals pitchers collectively have given up 231 base hits and 115 earned runs. They have allowed 41 home runs this season, ranking them 5th in the league. Kansas City as a pitching staff has walked 110 batters and struck out 242. They have walked 4.1 men per 9 innings while striking out 8.9 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.40 and their FIP as a unit is 4.92.

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Hitting Statistics

As a team Kansas City is hitting .244, good for 17th in the league. The Royals hold a .404 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .304, which is good for 25th in baseball. They rank 19th in MLB with 8.0 hits per game. Hunter Dozier is hitting .256 with an on-base percentage of .396. He has 11 hits this season in 43 at bats with 7 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .512 and an OPS+ of 146. Whit Merrifield is hitting .301 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .355. He has totaled 34 hits and he has driven in 18 men in 113 at bats. His OPS+ is 127 while his slugging percentage is at .487. The Royals have 232 hits, including 52 doubles and 32 home runs. Kansas City has walked 72 times so far this season and they have struck out 251 times as a unit. They have left 185 men on base and have a team OPS of .707. They score 3.9 runs per contest and have scored a total of 113 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

St. Louis has a 10-8 overall mark this year. Thus far in his career, Hudson has conceded 189 base knocks and he has 168 K's in 215 innings. He has surrendered 78 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.381 and being the owner of a FIP of 4.7. He has a SO/W ratio of 1.56 and he has faced 927 opposing batters during his pro baseball career. Hudson (20-10 mark in his career) has earned a 3.27 ERA and has allowed 7.9 hits per nine innings. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.34 and they have given up 36 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .133 against the Cardinals bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 70 batters and walked 33 opposing hitters. As a team, St. Louis allows 5.5 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.6 batters per nine innings. They are 3rd in the league in team earned run average at 3.27. The Cardinals pitchers as a team have surrendered 89 base knocks and 53 earned runs this season. They have given up 21 home runs this year, which ranks 30th in Major League Baseball. St. Louis as a staff has walked 62 hitters and struck out 139 batters. They give up a walk 3.8 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.6 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.03 while their FIP as a staff is 4.56.

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Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .240, good for 20th in the league. The Cardinals hold a .380 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .334, which is good for 6th in baseball. They rank 25th in MLB with 7.2 hits per contest. Paul DeJong comes into this matchup batting .208 with an OBP of .286. He has 5 hits this year along with 7 RBI in 24 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .417 with an OPS+ of 90. Matt Carpenter is hitting .214 this season and he has an OBP of .343. He has collected 12 hits in 56 at bats while driving in 12 runs. He has an OPS+ of 85 and a slugging percentage of .321. The Cardinals as a unit have 130 base hits, including 21 doubles and 17 homers. St. Louis has walked 64 times this year and they have struck out on 139 occasions. They have had 114 men left on base and have an OPS of .714. They have scored 4.28 runs per game and totaled 77 runs this season.

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

Tony's Pick: Take the Royals (+161)

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