Games are speeding up across baseball, that’s been one consequence, but it also seems like offense might be up with the running game and the pitch clock. Not in Kansas City on Opening Day. The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 2-0 to begin the season in the AL Central.
Now, after a day off we could see a few more runs pushed across with Sonny Gray and Jordan Lyles on the mound. Gray gets the start for the Twins and Lyles takes the ball as a Kansas City Royal for the first time.
Let’s check out the odds for Twins and Royals in Game 2 of their opening series.
Twins vs. Royals odds, run line and total
Twins vs. Royals prediction and pick
I’m very happy for him and his family, absolutely nothing against the guy, but I cannot understand why on Earth teams continue to pay Jordan Lyles to pitch professionally. He’s an innings eater at his best, but for his 12 year career he’s only had one season with an ERA below four and that was an 11 start stint with Milwaukee in 2019. For his career his ERA is 5.10 and his WHIP is 1.428.
Last season his expected ERA was 11th percentile in the MLB, his expected slugging was 10th percentile, and his barrel rate was seventh percentile. He got hit often and hit hard in Baltimore last year and KC was like, “Yeah, we’ll sign up for that.”
The Twins only turned 10 hits into two runs two days ago, but they’ll be able to score with much more ease today. Their lineup has some real length with Carlos Correa’s return and the addition of Joey Gallo for some more pop.
Plus, Sonny Gray was really solid last season with a 3.08 ERA in 24 starts. The Twins should easily go to 2-0.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change