Kansas City Royals vs New York Yankees Prediction, 4/17/2026 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Kansas City Royals vs New York Yankees

Date: Friday, April 17, 2026

Location: Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY

TV: YES

Odds/Point Spread: Kansas City (+150) New York (-182)

The Kansas City Royals (7-11) are on their way to Yankee Stadium on Friday where they will try to defeat the New York Yankees (10-8). The odds on this game have the Royals at +150 while the Yankees are at -182. The total is 8.5. The pitchers taking the mound are Michael Wacha and Cam Schlittler.

The Royals have tallied 23 doubles as a squad and have hit 13 balls out of the stadium. Kansas City has a slugging % of .330 and have been called out on strikes 149 times, while taking a walk on 65 occasions. As a team, the Kansas City Royals are scoring 3.1 runs per contest, which has them sitting at 29th in the league. They have amassed 52 runs batted in in addition to 122 base knocks on the campaign, while their batting average is sitting at .214. They have earned 56 runs while holding a team OBP of .301.

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The Royals have a team earned run average of 3.73 this year (9th in baseball), and they have rung up 153 hitters. Royals pitchers have allowed 18 home runs and also 69 total runs (8th in the league). Their pitching staff has walked 70 players from the other team and their FIP sits at 4.13 as a unit on the year. Kansas City has yielded 130 base hits (7.5 per 9 innings) and 65 earned runs. They have accrued a K/BB ratio of 2.19 and the pitching staff has earned a collective WHIP of 1.28.

Royals pitchers have come into the game with runners on 9 times as well as having 13 appearances in high leverage situations. The bullpen have accumulated 8 holds on the year (23rd in the league). The Royals relief pitchers have accumulated a save percentage of 70.0% and have come into the game in 18 save situations. They have tallied 7 saves this year and have missed out on 3 of 10 save opportunities. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 16 runners for the season with 18.8% of them ended up scoring. The Royals have dispatched 52 relievers to the mound this season.

The Houston Astros are sitting with 470 putouts thus far, in addition to 151 assists and 6 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .990 which ranks 7th in baseball, and have a total of 17 double plays. The Royals have converted 71.6% of balls in play into outs out of their 1,410 innings, which ranks them 7th in pro baseball.

Wacha has taken the ball for 1,648 frames and has tallied 1,433 strikeouts in his pro baseball career. His earned run average is 3.84 (704 ER's allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.268. He has given up 1,581 base hits (8.6 hits per 9 innings) and has had 508 walks. Wacha (113-75 career record) has a FIP of 3.79 and he has faced 6,920 batters in the major leagues.

The Yankees hold a team SLG% of .373 and they score 4.56 runs per game (13th in the league). They have put up 28 doubles, while taking a walk 83 times as well as scoring 82 runs. New York is sitting with 20 home runs this year as well as 75 runs batted in. They have been rung up on 172 occasions (7th in the league) and have accounted for 124 base knocks. The New York Yankees have compiled an on-base percentage of .313 in addition to a batting average of .212 on the year.

The Yankees have a WHIP of 1.187 and have a FIP of 3.19 as a staff so far this year. They come in at 16th in the league as a pitching staff in total hits surrendered with 142. The New York pitching staff have relinquished 65 runs this year while holding a team ERA of 3.28 (58 earned runs conceded). They have earned a K/BB ratio of 9.20 (163 strikeouts against 47 bases on balls). They have surrendered 13 homers and they relinquish 3.67 runs per 9 innings (6th in the league).

They are currently ranked 20th in MLB holding a save rate of 55.6%, and they have sent 65 bullpen pitchers onto the field this year. Their relievers have come in 21 times in high leverage situations and also on 22 occasions with runners on base. Sitting with 18 save situations, the Yankees have 8 holds in addition to 4 blown saves. New York has called on bullpen pitchers to enter the contest in 9 save chances and they have walked away with 5 saves. New York relievers hold an inherited score percentage of 33.3% out of 30 inherited base runners.

Out of their 1,437 innings on the diamond, the Yankees are sitting with a efficiency on defense of 68.9% (23rd in baseball). The New York Yankees have turned 12 double plays and hold a fielding percentage of .985 (17th in professional baseball). The Yankees have 163 assists, 10 errors and have notched a total of 479 putouts for the year.

During his career, Schlittler has allowed 73 hits while tallying 114 punch outs in 94 innings pitched. Schlittler (6-4 career win-loss record) has earned a 2.87 ERA and has conceded 7.0 hits per 9 innings. He has allowed 30 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.115 and a FIP of 2.8. His K/BB ratio is 3.56 and he has gone up against 385 hitters in his career.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take New York (-182)

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