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The Cleveland Guardians open their season with a trip to the Kansas City Royals for an AL Central matchup. It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Guardians-Royals prediction and pick. We will also let you know how to watch the game.
Here are the MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Guardians-Royals Odds
Cleveland Guardians: +1.5 (-210)
Moneyline: +110
Kansas City Royals: -1.5 (+172)
Moneyline: -130
Over: 7.5 (-108)
Under: 7.5 (-112)
How to Watch Guardians vs. Royals
Time: 4:10 PM ET/1:10 PM PT
TV: CLEGuardians.TV, FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*
Why The Guardians Will Cover The Spread/Win
Cleveland will hand the ball to Tanner Bibee for opening day this season. He has been a solid starting pitcher for the Guardians in his two big league seasons. In his career, the right-handed pitcher has made 56 starts, thrown 315.2 innings, struck out 328, walked just 89, and opponents are batting .230 off him. This spring, Bibee has thrown 14.1 innings, struck out 12, and he had an ERA of 1.82. The righty has shown no signs of regressing, so he should be able to have a solid start Thursday night. If he pitches well, the Guardians will win this game.
Bibee pitched well against the Royals last season. He made four starts, and he allowed less than three earned runs in three of them. Additionally, he went at least five innings in all four starts against Kansas City last year. In fact, the Guardians won three of the four games Bibee started, and he personally had a record of 2-0. With the way he has pitched against the Royals, and his career stats, the Guardians should have plenty of confidence heading into this game. On the back of Bibee, the Guardians will have a great chance to win this game.
Why The Royals Will Cover The Spread/Win
Cole Ragans is the opening day starter for the Royals. This is not a surprise as he is the best pitcher on the staff. He is coming off an excellent season in his first full year in Kansas City. Ragans had a 3.14 ERA through 186.1 innings pitched with 223 strikeouts. He finished fourth in the American League Cy Young race because of that season. He should be able to have a repeat year in 2025. If he carries his 2024 into this season, the left-handed pitcher will lead the Royals to an opening day victory Thursday night.
The Royals enter this season with roughly the same lineup. Salvador Perez, Vinnie Pasquantino, Maikel Garcia, Bobby Witt Jr, M.J. Melendez, Hunter Renfroe, and Kyle Isbel all return to the lineup. That was a playoff roster in 2024, and they return a lot of those players. With that, they added Jonathan India, who is a very solid second baseman. This lineup is coming into the season with the expectations of making the playoffs once again in 2025. If they hit the ball well on opening day, they will lead the Royals to a win.
Final Guardians-Royals Prediction & Pick
The best part about opening day is it is the best lineup from both teams going against each other, and it makes for some great baseball. For this game, I like Cole Ragans to outlast Tanner Bibee. However, I would not be surprised to see this game decided by one run. Because of that, I am going to take the Royals to win this game straight up.
Final Guardians-Royals Prediction & Pick: Royals ML (-130)
