Detroit Tigers vs Cleveland Guardians Prediction, 5/20/2022 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Detroit Tigers vs Cleveland Guardians

Date: Friday, May 20, 2022

Location: Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH

TV: Bally Sports Great Lakes

Odds/Point Spread: Detroit (-115) Cleveland (-105)

The Detroit Tigers (13-25) are headed to Progressive Field on Friday where they will try to beat the Cleveland Guardians (16-18). The odds on this game have Detroit at -115 and Cleveland is at -105. The total has been set at 8.5. The men taking the mound are Tarik Skubal and Aaron Civale.

Detroit has a slugging % of .317 and have been called out on strikes 319 times, while drawing a walk on 100 occasions. They have tallied 103 RBI's as well as 272 hits on the year, while their average at the plate comes in at .222. The Tigers have accumulated 47 doubles as a team and have hit 20 balls out of the stadium. They have 105 runs and hold an on-base percentage of .286. As a squad, the Detroit Tigers are notching 2.8 runs per game, which puts them at 30th in baseball.

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The Tigers have a team ERA of 3.60 so far this year (10th in baseball), and the staff has rung up 280 hitters. They have walked 117 hitters and their FIP comes in at 3.95 as a squad over the course of the season. They have a K/BB ratio of 2.39 and their pitching staff holds a collective WHIP of 1.20. Tigers pitchers have relinquished 37 long balls and 149 runs in total (11th in MLB).

Tigers pitchers have entered the contest with runners on 29 times in addition to having 38 appearances in high leverage situations. The bullpen have 20 holds for the year (18th in the league). The Tigers relief pitchers have earned a save rate of 66.7% and has entered the game in 33 save situations. They have compiled 8 saves this season and have blown 4 out of their 12 save opportunities. The relief pitchers have inherited 47 runners for the year and 17.0% of those runners crossed the plate. The Tigers have sent 136 relievers to the mound so far this year.

The Tigers have turned 72.4% of balls in play into outs out of 2,973 innings, which has them ranked 6th in professional baseball. The Detroit Tigers have notched a total of 991 putouts at this point in the season, in addition to 325 assists and 21 errors. Their fielding percentage is at .984 which puts them in 17th in professional baseball, and have accumulated 28 double plays.

Skubal (12-18 career win-loss mark) has a FIP of 4.64 and he has gone up against 927 hitters during his time in the majors. He has surrendered 204 hits (8.3 hits per nine innings) with 66 free passes. His earned run average is 4.19 (103 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.222. Skubal has taken the mound for 221 frames and has earned 246 punch outs so far in his MLB career.

The Guardians have a team SLG% of .396 and they score 4.74 runs per contest (6th in MLB). They have hit 58 doubles, while getting a free base 108 times as well as scoring 161 runs. Cleveland has accounted for 32 home runs for the season to go along with 158 runs batted in. They have been rung up on 255 occasions (30th in the league) and have notched a total of 289 hits. The Cleveland Guardians have compiled a team OBP of .314 and a batting average of .248 over the course of the season.

The Cleveland pitching staff have relinquished 157 runs so far this year while having an ERA of 4.17 (139 earned runs surrendered). They have given up 35 home runs and they relinquish 4.71 runs per 9 innings (25th in baseball). The Guardians hold a team WHIP of 1.226 in addition to having a FIP of 4.07 as a squad so far this season. They currently have a K/BB ratio of 2.46 (271 strikeouts against 110 bases on balls). They rank 2nd in the league as a staff in total hits conceded with 258.

Cleveland has had relievers enter the game in 11 save chances and they have converted 8 saves. They rank 9th in the league with a save rate of 72.7%, and they have sent 113 relief pitchers to the hill this year. Their relievers have taken the field 40 times in high leverage situations and on 33 occasions with runners on. Cleveland bullpen pitchers hold an inherited score percentage of 24.4% out of their 41 inherited runners. Sitting with 21 save situations, the Guardians have accrued 9 holds in addition to 3 blown saves.

In their 2,706 innings played, the Guardians are sitting with a defensive efficiency of 71.5% (8th in professional baseball). The Cleveland Guardians have turned 25 double plays and hold a fielding percentage of .984 (16th in MLB). The Guardians have accrued 300 assists, 19 errors and have earned 902 putouts so far this season.

Thus far in his career, Civale has given up 269 hits and he has 241 punch outs in 280 innings. He has given up 134 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.211 and being the owner of a FIP of 4.4. He has a K/BB ratio of 3.39 and he has faced 1,158 batters so far in his MLB career. Civale (20-18 career win-loss record) has earned a 4.30 earned run average while conceding 8.6 hits per nine innings.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Detroit (-115)

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