Kansas City Royals vs Cincinnati Reds Prediction, 6/1/2026 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Kansas City Royals vs Cincinnati Reds

Date: Monday, June 1, 2026

Location: Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, OH

TV: Reds.TV

Odds/Point Spread: Kansas City (-196) Cincinnati (+162)

The Kansas City Royals (22-36) are traveling to Great American Ball Park on Monday where they will attempt to defeat the Cincinnati Reds (29-28). The moneyline on this game has Kansas City at -196 and Cincinnati is priced at +162. The over/under comes in at 8.5. The pitchers taking the mound are Luinder Avila and Chase Burns.

Kansas City has a slugging rate of .373 and have struck out 461 times, while drawing a walk on 194 occasions. They have accrued 211 RBI's as well as 448 base knocks on the campaign, and their batting average comes in at .234. The Royals have compiled 97 two-baggers as a team and have hit 52 balls out of the park. They have accumulated 218 runs while holding a team OBP of .309. As a squad, the Kansas City Royals are knocking in 3.8 runs per contest, which puts them at 29th in the league.

Get all of our MLB Expert Picks

Their K/BB ratio is 2.05 and the pitching staff holds a collective WHIP of 1.40. Royals pitchers have allowed 69 home runs in addition to 274 runs (22nd in MLB). Kansas City has given up 490 hits (8.6 per 9 innings) in addition to 257 earned runs. The Royals are sitting with a team ERA of 4.51 on the campaign (24th in MLB), and the staff has rung up 469 batters. Their pitching staff has walked 229 opposing batters and their FIP sits at 4.40 as a team for the year.

Royals relief pitchers have gone to the mound with runners on base 40 times in addition to having 59 appearances in high leverage situations. The relief pitchers have accumulated 25 holds so far this year (24th in baseball). The Royals bullpen have earned a save percentage of 56.0% and have come into the game in 50 save situations. They have recorded 14 saves so far this year and have blown 11 of 25 save opportunities. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 52 base runners this year and 26.9% of those players earned a run for their team. The Royals have sent 179 relievers to the hill over the course of the season.

The Kansas City Royals are sitting with 1,539 putouts this season, as well as 507 assists and 23 errors. Their fielding rate sits at .989 which has them sitting 4th in professional baseball, and have 48 double plays. The Royals have converted 69.5% of balls hit into play into outs in their 4,617 innings on the field, ranking them 20th in the majors.

Avila has taken the mound for 35 innings and has earned 36 K's so far in his career. Avila (1-3 mark in his career) has a FIP of 3.54 while facing 151 hitters in the major leagues. His earned run average is 3.59 (14 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.481. He has given up 34 base knocks (8.7 hits per nine innings) and has had 18 walks.

Cincinnati has accumulated 71 home runs for the year and 236 runs batted in. They have put up 89 two-baggers, while getting a free base 222 times as well as scoring 250 runs. The Cincinnati Reds have recorded an on-base percentage of .313 and a team batting average of .230 this season. The Reds have a team slugging percentage of .394 and they score 4.39 runs per game (14th in the league). They have struck out on 526 occasions (6th in MLB) and have totaled 440 base hits.

The Reds hold a team WHIP of 1.448 with a FIP of 5.07 as a team so far this year. Their K/BB ratio comes in at 7.80 (440 strikeouts vs 257 free passes). They are sitting at 21st in the league as a staff in total hits relinquished with 480. They have surrendered 81 homers and they surrender 5.02 runs per 9 innings (25th in MLB). The Cincinnati pitching staff have surrendered 284 runs so far this year while holding an ERA of 4.72 (267 earned runs conceded).

They sit at 24th in the league with a save rate of 56.5%, and they have dispatched 212 bullpen pitchers onto the diamond so far this year. Their relievers have taken the field 63 times in high leverage situations in addition to 60 occasions with base runners. Sitting with 63 save situations, the Reds have tallied 39 holds in addition to 10 blown saves. Cincinnati has called on bullpen pitchers to take the mound in 23 save chances and they have come away with 13 saves. Cincinnati bullpen pitchers hold an inherited score rate of 30.1% out of 83 inherited base runners.

In 4,584 innings on the field, the Reds have accumulated a defensive efficiency of 71.1% (10th in professional baseball). The Cincinnati Reds have turned 50 double plays and hold a fielding percentage of .988 (9th in the majors). The Reds have accrued 479 assists, 25 errors and have amassed 1,528 putouts for the year.

Burns (7-4 record in his career) holds a 3.02 ERA while giving up 7.0 hits per nine innings. He has a K/BB ratio of 3.86 and he has faced 437 opposing batters so far in his pro baseball career. He has allowed 36 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 1.110 and a FIP of 3.0. In his pro baseball career, Burns has surrendered 83 base hits and he has 139 K's in 107 innings pitched.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Kansas City (-196)

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here

Get MLB picks on every single game, or if you want our very best bets by the experts, sign up for your free $60 account with a guarantee.