Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Indians Prediction, 7/8/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Indians

Date: Thursday, July 8, 2021

Location: Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH

TV: SportsTime Ohio

Odds/Point Spread: Kansas City (+110) Cleveland (-141)

Progressive Field is the venue where Zach Plesac and the Cleveland Indians (42-40, 2nd in AL Central) will play the Kansas City Royals (36-49, 4th in AL Central) on Thursday. The line on this matchup has the Royals priced at +110 and the Indians are at -141. The total has been set at 8. The pitchers taking the mound are Danny Duffy and Zach Plesac.

Kansas City has a slugging % of .389 and have struck out 689 times, while taking a walk on 234 occasions. They have 332 runs batted in and 687 hits on the year, and their team batting average is .244. The Royals have hit 124 doubles as a team and have hit 84 balls out of the stadium. They have 351 runs scored while holding a team OBP of .306. As a team, the Kansas City Royals are knocking in 4.1 runs per game, which is 24th in the league.

Royals pitchers have given up 108 long balls and 435 runs in total (26th in MLB). Their pitching staff has walked 340 opposing players and their FIP is 4.60 as a unit on the campaign. They have earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.16 and their pitching staff has a team WHIP of 1.47. The Royals have a team earned run average of 5.05 on the season (28th in baseball), and their staff has rung up 736 hitters.

Royals bullpen pitchers have entered the game with players on base 79 times and also have had 74 appearances in high leverage situations. The relievers have racked up 40 holds so far this year (16th in baseball). The Royals relievers have a save rate of 58.1% and has entered the game in 71 save situations. They have recorded 18 saves this year and have blown 13 of 31 save opportunities. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 125 base runners for the season and 28.0% of them crossed the plate. The Royals have dispatched 286 relief pitchers to the hill for the season.

The Kansas City Royals have accounted for 2,200 putouts this year, in addition to 730 assists and 50 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .983 which has them ranked 18th in the majors, and have accumulated 583 double plays. The Royals have turned 67.3% of balls hit into play into outs out of their 6,600 innings, ranking them 29th in MLB.

Duffy has taken the mound for 1,163 innings and has totaled 1,040 K's during his career. His ERA is 3.96 (512 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.318. He has conceded 1,105 base knocks (8.5 hits per 9 innings) and has had 428 free passes. Duffy (68-68 career mark) is the owner of a FIP of 4.17 while he has faced 4,939 opposing batters during his time in the majors.

Cleveland has knocked in 99 HRs for the season to go along with 337 runs batted in. They have hit 120 two-baggers, while walking 232 times as well as putting up 355 runs. The Cleveland Indians hold a team on-base percentage of .297 and a batting average of .229 on the year. The Indians hold a team slugging percentage of .394 and they have an average of 4.33 runs per outing (16th in the league). They have been called out on strikes on 689 occasions (27th in MLB) and have a total of 612 hits.

The Cleveland pitching staff have surrendered 372 runs for the season while holding a team ERA of 4.41 (349 earned runs relinquished). They have relinquished 104 long balls and they yield 4.70 runs per 9 innings (17th in MLB). The Indians are sitting with a team WHIP of 1.313 with a FIP of 4.28 as a squad over the course of the season. They have earned a K/BB ratio of 2.56 (773 strikeouts vs 302 walks). They rank 9th in MLB as a staff in total hits surrendered with 633.

With 66 save situations, the Indians have compiled 36 holds and also 6 blown saves. Cleveland has called on bullpen pitchers to take the mound in 28 save opportunities and they have walked away with 22 saves. Their bullpen pitchers have stepped onto the mound 78 times in high leverage situations in addition to 75 occasions with runners on. Cleveland bullpen pitchers hold an inherited score percentage of 29.9% of 107 inherited base runners. They are currently ranked 1st in the league holding a save percentage of 78.6%, and they have sent 275 relievers to the hill so far this season.

In their 6,414 innings played, the Indians have earned a defensive efficiency of 69.6% (16th in professional baseball). The Cleveland Indians have turned 69 double plays and have earned a fielding percentage of .985 (8th in MLB). The Indians have accrued 702 assists, 42 errors and have 2,138 putouts on the campaign.

In his career, Plesac has surrendered 188 hits and he has 183 strikeouts in 229 frames. He has surrendered 90 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.071 and a FIP of 4.5. His strikeout to walk ratio is 3.16 and he has gone up against 916 opposing hitters thus far in his career. Plesac (16-11 career win-loss record) has earned a 3.53 ERA while conceding 7.4 hits per 9 innings.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Kansas City (+110)

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