Friday is filled with teams squaring off with divisional rivals ready to go to war! In this case, the Minnesota Twins will put their first-place record to the test when they go up against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Check out our MLB odds series, where our Twins-Royals prediction and pick can be seen. Let's get this show on the road!
The 22-16 Twins are coming off one of their more complete performances of the season, as they dismantled the Oakland Athletics by curb-stomping them with 14 runs in a 14-4 victory. Manager Rocco Baldelli will be giving the start to LHP Devin Smeltzer, who made just one start this season on May 14th when he fired five innings of scoreless baseball.
Trying to avoid dropping ten games under .500, the Royals will counter the Twins by sending out another lefty in Daniel Lynch, who got a 2-2 record and has compiled a 3.30 ERA in his five starts.
Here are the Twins-Royals MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Twins-Royals Odds
Minnesota Twins: -1.5 (+108)
Kansas City Royals: +1.5 (-130)
Over: 8 (-106)
Under: 8 (-112)
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Why The Twins Could Cover the Spread
Appearing to be a more well-rounded team than what the Royals have shown to this point, the Twins could cover the spread on Friday thanks to the ability to put up runs in a hurry and hold hitters in check with their pitching dominance.
While the Twins only rank 16th in runs with a total of 156 of them, Minnesota excels in reaching base and generating extra-base hits when stepping inside the box. With on-base and slugging percentages of .320 and .394 through 38 games, the Twins do the most damage in these departments.
Not to mention, this talented hitting bunch has an array of weapons to choose from to get the job done. Whether it is outfielder Byron Buxton smacking baseballs to the moon, shortstop Jorge Polanco driving in runs when the team needs it the most, or right-fielder Max Kepler continuing to lead the club in batting average, the Twins are locked and loaded with whoever they match up with.
The hitting stars of the Twins have been pretty good this season, but the squad's pitchers may be playing at an even higher level. With an ERA of 3.35 on the year, the Twins are in every game they play with their arms limiting runs from being put up on the scoreboard.
It will be very intriguing to see how starting pitcher Devin Smeltzer throws in only his second start of the season. If his opening outing is any indication of how he'll pitch Friday against the Royals, then the Twins may be a shoo-in to cover the spread and win another game.
Surprisingly, the Twins are only 17-22 ATS thus far.
Why The Royals Could Cover the Spread
It has been nearly seven years since the Royals hoisted the Commissioner's Trophy, signifying that a team stands alone in October as World Series champions. This team is a far cry from what they used to be, but this is to be expected, as Kansas City has been in full rebuild mode for a couple of seasons now.
Better days do seem to be ahead, however, as the Royals have been stacking up on young talent and investing in their future. For now, the Royals are a gritty bunch but lack the talent up and down the lineup and throughout their pitching staff to be a competitor in 2022.
The Royals have been vastly inconsistent on offense, as they have the ability to drop five-plus runs but have a tendency to be quickly silenced when they hit a dry spell. Despite showing flashes, the Royals' numbers on offense have been very lackluster for the most part, as they rank 26th in runs scored with 133 and are hitting a fairly mediocre batting average with a .230 mark.
Of course, there is plenty of time for the Royals to regroup heading into the summer months with some wins, but they must improve their team ERA of 4.49 and find ways to miss bats more effectively as a pitching unit.
The former first-round pick in the 2018 MLB draft, Daniel Lynch has shown he can be a reliable arm for the Royals, as he tends to do a good job in keeping hitters off-balanced with his variety of pitch selections. Although tasked with a much more challenging matchup against the Twins, Lynch pitched well in his last start versus Colorado as he gave up only three hits through 5 1/3 of frames.
On the year, the Royals are 19-22 ATS heading into this matchup.
Final Twins-Royals Prediction & Pick
With a winning record out on the road so far in 2022, expect the Twins to come out with the same offensive energy that they did against Lynch and the Royals. Even if Smeltzer is still shaking some rust off for Minnesota, the offense will do its part in covering the spread and send the Royals fans home in despair.
Final Twins-Royals Prediction & Pick: Twins -1.5 (+108)
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