Kansas City Royals vs Atlanta Braves Prediction, 3/28/2026 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Kansas City Royals vs Atlanta Braves

Date: Saturday, March 28, 2026

Location: Truist Park in Cumberland, GA

TV: Braves.TV

Odds/Point Spread: Kansas City (-275) Atlanta (+220)

The Kansas City Royals (82-80 last year) are traveling to Truist Park on Saturday where they will attempt to defeat the Atlanta Braves (76-86 last season). The moneyline on this game has Kansas City at -275 and Atlanta is sitting at +220. The over/under is 9. The pitchers who are expected to start will be Michael Wacha and Reynaldo Lopez.

The Royals accounted for 292 two-baggers as a squad and smacked 159 baseballs out of the park. Kansas City had a slugging percentage of .397 and were called out on strikes 1,096 times, while taking a walk on 435 occasions. As a team, the Kansas City Royals scored 4.0 runs per contest, which ranked them 26th in the league. They recorded 638 RBI's in addition to 1,342 hits during the previous year, and their batting average came in at .247. They racked up 651 runs scored while holding a team OBP of .309.

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The Royals finished with a team ERA of 3.73 last season (6th in baseball), and the staff rung up 1,271 batters. Royals pitchers surrendered 171 long balls and 637 runs in total (4th in MLB). They walked 478 opposing players and their FIP was 4.01 as a team over the course of last year. Kansas City conceded 1,308 base hits (8.2 per 9 innings) and 595 earned runs. They had a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.66 and their pitching staff had a collective WHIP of 1.24.

The Royals dispatched 547 relief pitchers to the hill in the prior season. The bullpen inherited 220 base runners over the course of the prior season and 27.3% of those players earned a run for their team. They recorded 47 saves over the course of the prior season and missed out on 20 of their 67 save opportunities. The Royals relievers recorded a save percentage of 70.1% and entered the game in 158 save situations. The relief pitchers accumulated 89 holds last season (15th in MLB). Royals relief pitchers entered the game with players on base 161 times and also had 174 contests in high leverage situations.

The Royals converted 70.8% of balls hit into play into outs out of their 12,930 innings, which ranked them 7th in pro baseball. The Houston Astros earned 4,310 putouts in the previous season, as well as 1,437 assists and 62 errors. Their fielding percentage finished at .988 which had them ranked 8th in professional baseball, and accumulated 132 double plays.

Wacha has taken the hill for 1,626 innings and has racked up 1,416 punch outs so far in his career. His ERA is 3.89 (703 earned runs allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.275. He has allowed 1,571 hits (8.7 hits per 9 innings) and has had 503 free passes. Wacha (111-75 record in his career) has earned a FIP of 3.83 and he has faced 6,846 opposing batters during his time in the majors.

Atlanta tallied 190 HRs over the course of the prior season in addition to 701 RBIs. They hit 243 doubles, while walking 575 times as well as earning 724 runs. The Atlanta Braves earned an on-base percentage of .320 and a batting average of .245 last year. The Braves had a team SLG% of .399 and they had an average of 4.47 runs per game (13th in the league). They struck out on 1,371 occasions (14th in MLB) and totaled 1,349 hits.

The Atlanta pitching staff yielded 734 runs for the previous season while holding an ERA of 4.36 (696 earned runs yielded). They relinquished 197 long balls and they surrender 4.59 runs per 9 innings (20th in baseball). The Braves had a WHIP of 1.306 and had a FIP of 4.20 as a team over the course of last season. Their strikeout to walk ratio sat at 8.90 (1,416 strikeouts against 530 bases on balls). They were ranked 20th in the league as a pitching staff in total hits relinquished with 1,348.

Atlanta called on relief pitchers to step onto the hill in 55 save chances and they tallied 34 saves. They ranked 20th in the league holding a save rate of 61.8%, and they dispatched 520 relief pitchers to the mound last year. Their relief pitchers came in 168 times in high leverage situations in addition to 158 occasions with runners on. Atlanta relievers held an inherited score rate of 38.6% out of 215 inherited runners. With 128 save situations, the Braves earned 73 holds in addition to 21 blown saves.

The Atlanta Braves turned 109 double plays and owned a fielding percentage of .991 (2nd in the majors). The Braves accrued 1,367 assists, 54 errors and are sitting with 4,314 putouts last year. Out of their 12,942 innings on the diamond, the Braves held a defensive efficiency of 69.8% (18th in baseball).

Lopez (47-54 career win-loss mark) holds a 3.94 ERA while allowing 8.3 hits per nine innings. His K/BB ratio is 2.61 and he has gone up against 3,459 batters so far in his career. He has given up 359 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.274 and a FIP of 3.9. Thus far in his career, Lopez has given up 752 hits and he has 766 K's in 820 innings pitched.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Kansas City (-275)

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