The Cleveland Guardians take on the Kansas City Royals. Check out our MLB odds series for our Guardians Royals prediction and pick.
Cody Morris gets the call for the Guardians, while Zack Greinke starts for the Royals.
Cody Morris has been called up and brought into the Cleveland rotation because of the injuries to starting pitchers Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale. The shorthanded Guardians are going to use Morris in a patchwork role. One should not expect that he will throw five or six innings. If he can, that's huge, but if Terry Francona can get 10 to 12 outs out of Morris and not fall behind heading into the fourth or fifth inning, he'll take it. Morris was given the ball on Friday, Sept. 2 against the Mariners in Cleveland. He gave up a few runs in two innings of work. Cleveland would probably be happy with 3 1/3 innings pitched and only one run allowed. The Guardians know they'll have to dip into their bullpen for this game. Keeping it close in the early stages is the goal for Morris.
Zack Greinke has been there, done that, and his second go-round in Kansas City has shown the competitive resourcefulness we are accustomed to seeing from one of the game's more thoughtful pitchers. Greinke's ERA is an unimpressive 4.14, but that ERA is the product of three absolutely atrocious starts from May 13-29 in which Greinke allowed 17 earned runs. He had another outing in the early summer (July 5) in which he gave up six runs in five innings. Those four starts were absolutely brutal, but for the most part, Greinke has done well for the Royals when given the ball this year. He pitched to a 1.50 ERA in two late-June starts. His ERA for August, in four starting appearances, was an even three runs. Most of what you have seen from Greinke this year has been good. It's just that when he is bad, he is really bad, but that's not the normal version of his 2022 self.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Guardians-Royals MLB odds.
MLB Odds: Guardians-Royals Odds
Cleveland Guardians: -1.5 (+116)
Kansas City Royals: +1.5 (-140)
Over: 8 (-115)
Under: 8 (-105)
Why The Guardians Could Cover the Spread
If they get bad Zack Greinke, the Guardians are going to give Cody Morris more run support than he possibly could hope for. Greinke is a good pitcher, but as said above, if he's not on top of his game, he can and will get crushed. Feasting on a subpar version of Greinke is the Guardians' path to victory on Wednesday.
Why The Royals Could Cover the Spread
After losing to the Guardians a few times this week, the Royals will try to fight back and fend off a sweep attempt. Greinke is not the elite pitcher he used to be, but he is still solid. He still knows how to get big-league hitters out. Cody Morris did not look especially good in his first Cleveland appearance this past Friday against the Mariners. The Royals have a very good chance of being able to attack him and put a lot of runs on the board in this contest. The Royals are not a good team, but they have played hard all season long and don't figure to let up their guard now.
Final Guardians-Royals Prediction & Pick
If there was ever a time to pick the lowly Royals over the first-place Guardians in 2022, this is it. Cody Morris is not a starter who gives the Guardians a lot of confidence. Take Kansas City.
Final Guardians-Royals Prediction & Pick: Royals +1.5
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