Toronto Blue Jays vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, 4/16/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Toronto Blue Jays vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Friday, April 16, 2021

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: Bally Sports Kansas City

Odds/Point Spread: Toronto (-130) Kansas City (+120)

Kauffman Stadium is the venue where Mike Minor and the Kansas City Royals (6-4, 1st in AL Central) will play the Toronto Blue Jays (6-6, 2nd in AL East) on Friday. The Blue Jays open this matchup at -130 while the Royals are priced at +120. The total opens at 8.5. The starting pitchers are Steven Matz and Mike Minor.

As a squad, the Toronto Blue Jays are recording 4.5 runs per game, which is 13th in baseball. They have accounted for 54 runs scored while holding a team on-base percentage of .311. The Blue Jays have tallied 13 two-baggers as a squad and have smacked 16 balls out of the park. They have accumulated 48 RBI's in addition to 96 base knocks this year, while their team batting average comes in at .235. Toronto owns a slugging percentage of .389 and have been called out on strikes 117 times, while being walked on 37 occasions.

The Blue Jays hold a team earned run average of 3.08 so far this year (7th in the league), and their staff has rung up 105 hitters. They have earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.76 and their pitching staff has earned a collective WHIP of 1.19. Blue Jays pitchers have conceded 15 long balls and 44 total runs (8th in MLB). They have walked 38 players from the other team and their FIP sits at 4.17 as a team this season.

The Blue Jays have dispatched 44 relief pitchers to the hill on the campaign. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 18 base runners this year and 38.9% of those players ended up crossing the plate. They have earned 3 saves this season and have blown 1 of their 4 save opportunities. The Blue Jays bullpen have compiled a save rate of 75.0% and has stepped onto the mound in 8 save situations. The relief pitchers have recorded 3 holds so far this year (25th in the league). Blue Jays bullpen pitchers have gone to the mound with opponents on base 14 times in addition to having 19 appearances in high leverage situations.

Matz (33-41 mark in his career) is the owner of a FIP of 4.46 while facing 2,528 batters in the majors. He has surrendered 592 hits (9.0 hits per nine innings) with 184 free passes. His ERA is 4.29 (282 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.311. Matz has thrown 592 frames and is sitting with 565 strikeouts during his MLB career.

The Royals have a team SLG% of .383 and they are earning 4.90 runs per game (9th in baseball). They have 11 doubles, while getting a free base 34 times and putting up 49 runs. Kansas City has recorded 11 long balls for the season as well as 47 runs batted in. They have been called out on strikes on 103 occasions (21st in baseball) and have recorded 81 base knocks. The Kansas City Royals are sitting with an on-base percentage of .315 as well as a batting average of .244 so far this year.

The Kansas City pitching staff have allowed 47 runs this year while holding a team ERA of 4.25 (42 earned runs yielded). They have allowed 10 homers and they yield 4.75 runs per 9 innings (16th in MLB). The Royals hold a team WHIP of 1.461 in addition to having a FIP of 4.16 as a staff on the campaign. Their K/BB ratio comes in at 2.16 (93 strikeouts vs 43 bases on balls). They are currently ranked 10th in the league as a pitching staff in total hits given up with 87.

Kansas City has had bullpen pitchers take the mound in 6 save chances and they have tallied 4 saves. They are currently ranked 13th in the league with a save percentage of 66.7%, and they have sent 41 relief pitchers to the mound on the year. Their relief pitchers have taken the field 13 times in high leverage situations and on 14 occasions with base runners. Kansas City relievers have an inherited score rate of 8.3% of 24 inherited base runners. With 14 save situations, the Royals have 8 holds in addition to 2 blown saves.

Minor (72-66 career win-loss mark) has earned a 3.99 ERA while surrendering 8.4 hits per nine innings. His K/BB ratio is 3.11 and he has faced 4,824 opposing batters thus far in his career. He has allowed 515 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.223 and a FIP of 4.0. Thus far in his career, Minor has surrendered 1,082 hits while he has totaled 1,057 strikeouts in 1,162 innings pitched.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Toronto (-130)

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