The Kansas City Royals (3-8) visit the Texas Rangers (6-4) on Tuesday night! First pitch commences at 8:06 p.m. ET. Below we continue our MLB odds series with a Royals-Rangers prediction, pick, and how to watch.
Here are the Royals-Rangers MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Royals-Rangers Odds
Kansas City Royals: +1.5 (+115)
Texas Rangers: -1.5 (-138)
Over: 8 (-104)
Under: 8 (-118)
How To Watch Royals vs. Rangers
TV: Bally Sports
Stream: MLB.tv
Time: 8:05 p.m. ET/ 5:05 p.m. PT
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Why The Royals Could Cover The Spread
Kanas City limps back onto Globe Life Field after suffering an 11-2 beatdown in the series opener. That was just the latest in what has been a rough beginning of the season for the Royals. While they did most recently come away with a series win over the Giants, the Royals lost six of their first seven games. After a rough 2022 campaign, the Royals don’t look much improved. With Texas trotting out their ace tonight, they’re going to need a stellar performance from their pitching staff if they want to cover.
Righty Jordan Lyles (0-2) makes his third start of the season for Kansas City tonight. The MLB journeyman was a workhorse over his last two years in Baltimore and Texas, making 30+ starts in back-to-back seasons. While he has never been known for his elite stuff on the mound, Lyles is the definition of a workhorse. His debut in Kansas City went well despite a loss as he gave up just a single earned run in an eventual 2-0 loss to Minnesota. However, Lyles followed that up with a poor outing against Toronto in which he allowed five runs and eight hits in 5.2 innings. That being said, he struck out nine Blue Jays in the loss – perhaps giving some hope he can cut down on the runs allowed tonight.
If the Royals are going to cover after last night’s disaster, they’re going to need their offense to show up. That starts with 22-year-old phenom Bobby Witt Jr. The star infielder put together a stellar rookie campaign last season. Although he batted just .254, Witt Jr. cranked out 20 home runs and stole 30 bases. Hopes were high for him coming into the season but thus far the infielder can’t seem to figure things out. Batting just .158 thus far, he needs to figure things out if the Royals are going to keep things close tonight. That being said, it is at least encouraging that he got on base twice last night – a trend he needs to continue tonight.
Why The Rangers Could Cover The Spread
Texas continued their offensive dominance in last night’s opener as they eclipsed eight runs for the second consecutive game. After dropping the first two games in their series against the Cubs last week, the Rangers have bounced back in a huge way. Additionally, Texas starts off-season acquisition Jacob deGrom tonight. Thus, they have a great chance to cover once again against a struggling Royals team.
Long-time Mets’ Ace Jacob deGrom makes his third start of the season tonight. It was a rocky beginning for the 34-year-old as he was rocked by the Phillies on opening day, giving up five runs in just 3.2 innings. Still, with seven strikeouts there was certainly hope he would bounce back in his next start. deGrom did just that, picking up a win against the Orioles thanks to allowing just one run on two hits in six innings. The righty struck out 11 in the win. While there is certainly concern about his ability to hold up for an entire season considering deGrom hasn’t thrown over 100 innings since 2019, the ace is coming off the best two strikeout seasons of his career. With him fully healthy, deGrom could once again touch double-digit strikeouts tonight.
While their pitching made headlines last night, Texas’ offense stayed hot with 11 runs. Giving deGrom 11 runs to play with guarantees them a cover tonight. While that may be farfetched, the hot play of Corey Seager certainly leaves another explosion in the realm of possibilities. Seager finished with three hits and a walk last night. One of those homer runs went over the fence as he increased his hitting streak to four games. After a disappointing inaugural season in Texas, Seager looks poised for a bounce-back campaign.
Final Royals-Rangers Prediction & Pick
The Ranger crushed the Royals last night and now trot Jacob deGrom onto the mound. While deGrom struggled in his first two starts, look for him to come back to earth against a shaky Kansas City lineup.
Final Royals-Rangers Prediction & Pick: Texas Rangers -1.5 (-138)
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