Kansas City Royals vs Chicago Cubs Prediction, 8/20/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Kansas City Royals vs Chicago Cubs

Date: Friday, August 20, 2021

Location: Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL

TV: Marquee Sports Network

Odds/Point Spread: Kansas City (+100) Chicago (-125)

Wrigley Field is the site where Zach Davies and the Chicago Cubs (54-69, 4th in NL Central) will play the Kansas City Royals (52-67, 5th in AL Central) on Friday. The Royals open this contest at +100 while the Cubs are priced at -125. The O/U opens at 9.5. The pitchers who are expected to start will be Brad Keller and Zach Davies.

As a team, the Kansas City Royals are notching 4.1 runs per outing, which ranks them 24th in the league. They have accumulated 486 runs and hold an OBP of .302. The Royals have accounted for 169 two-baggers as a squad and have hit 118 balls out of the park. They have 460 RBI's in addition to 957 base knocks on the campaign, and their average at the plate is .243. Kansas City has a slugging rate of .387 and have been rung up 944 times, while drawing a walk on 309 occasions.

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Royals pitchers have relinquished 147 home runs and 592 runs in total (23rd in baseball). Their pitching staff has walked 452 opposing batters and their FIP sits at 4.50 as a team on the year. Their strikeout to walk ratio sits at 2.24 and their pitching staff has a collective WHIP of 1.42. The Royals hold a team earned run average of 4.89 over the course of the season (27th in MLB), and their staff has rung up 1,014 batters.

The Royals relief pitchers have compiled a save rate of 60.0% and has stepped onto the mound in 104 save situations. The relief pitchers have inherited 177 runners on the season and 29.4% of those runners ended up scoring. Royals pitchers have entered the contest with runners on base 111 times in addition to having 104 appearances in high leverage situations. The Royals have dispatched 405 relievers to the hill for the year. The relief pitchers have accumulated 59 holds for the season (18th in the league). They have earned 27 saves on the season and have missed out on 18 of their 45 chances to get a save.

The Kansas City Royals have earned a total of 3,102 putouts so far this season, as well as 1,037 assists and 65 errors. Their fielding percentage is at .985 which has them ranked 15th in MLB, and have accumulated 819 double plays. The Royals have turned 67.9% of balls in play into outs in their 9,306 innings on the field, which has them ranked 28th in professional baseball.

Keller has taken the mound for 483 innings and has racked up 362 strikeouts in his pro baseball career. Keller (28-35 record in his career) sits with a FIP of 4.10 and he has gone up against 2,076 hitters in the majors. His earned run average is 4.04 (217 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.387. He has allowed 475 hits (8.8 hits per nine innings) and has had 196 walks.

Chicago is sitting with 153 home runs for the season and 487 runs batted in. They have hit 169 doubles, while getting a free base 376 times and racking up 512 runs. The Chicago Cubs have accounted for an OBP of .307 as well as a team batting average of .231 on the season. The Cubs hold a team slugging % of .397 and they tally 4.16 runs per game (23rd in MLB). They have struck out on 1,202 occasions (1st in the league) and have 927 base knocks.

The Chicago pitching staff have surrendered 600 runs so far this season while holding an ERA of 4.58 (545 earned runs yielded). They have surrendered 175 homers and they give up 5.04 runs per 9 innings (22nd in MLB). The Cubs have a team WHIP of 1.380 with a FIP of 4.78 as a unit on the season. They currently have a K/BB ratio of 2.35 (1,060 strikeouts against 452 walks). They come in at 23rd in MLB as a pitching staff in total hits relinquished with 1,028.

Chicago has called on relievers to step onto the hill in 40 save chances and they have recorded 30 saves. They rank 1st in baseball holding a save rate of 75.0%, and they have dispatched 453 bullpen pitchers to the hill on the year. Their relief pitchers have stepped onto the hill 123 times in high leverage situations in addition to 124 occasions with base runners. Chicago relief pitchers hold an inherited score percentage of 31.3% of 201 inherited base runners. Sitting with 105 save situations, the Cubs have compiled 64 holds and 10 blown saves.

The Chicago Cubs have turned 100 double plays and own a fielding percentage of .985 (13th in professional baseball). The Cubs have accrued 1,178 assists, 67 errors and are sitting with 3,217 putouts so far this season. In 9,651 innings played, the Cubs hold a defensive efficiency of 69.4% (19th in the majors).

During his pro baseball career, Davies has surrendered 796 base hits while earning 588 strikeouts in 804 innings. He has conceded a total of 355 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.314 and a FIP of 4.3. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.25 and he has faced 3,404 batters in his pro baseball career. Davies (56-45 win-loss mark in his career) has a 3.97 ERA and has surrendered 8.9 hits per 9 innings.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Chicago (-125)

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