Yankees -1.5(-136)
Royals vs. Yankees Free MLB Picks and Odds Breakdown (Archive)
Kansas City will be hoping for more success against the American League East when it travels to New York on Tuesday night. The Royals took two out of three from Boston over the weekend, but they are 10-games back in the AL Central standings. New York has won five of its last six games and is 4.5-games behind the Red Sox in the AL East.
Kansas City Royals vs. New York Yankees
Tuesday, June 22, 2021 – 07:05 PM EDT at Yankee Stadium
Scouting Kansas City
Kansas City finally readied the ship after another long losing patch. The Royals had lost 11 out of their last 12 games heading into their home series against Boston over the weekend. They were able to take two out of three against the AL East leader, including a 7-3 win on Sunday afternoon. Kansas City is still six games under .500 and is 10 games behind Chicago in the AL Central. It is 7.5-games behind Cleveland in the standings. The Royals have been a solid offensive team, though, listed at No. 12 in the MLB with a batting average of .242.
Veteran catcher Salvador Perez leads the team with 80 hits and a .292 average. He has hit a team-high 18 home runs and is among the AL leaders in that category. Right fielder Whit Merrifield has 76 hits, while left fielder Andrew Benintendi has a .283 average. Benintendi is currently on the injured list with a rib issue. First baseman Carlos Santana has added 11 homers. They will be facing a New York pitching staff that is eighth in the MLB with a team ERA of 3.59. Right-handed pitcher Brady Singer will start for Kansas City on Tuesday. He was held to three frames in his last start due to shoulder tightness. Singer is 3-5 with a 4.76 ERA overall this season.
Scouting New York
New York will be looking to take advantage of a series where it is clearly the better team. The Yankees are needing to trim into the AL East deficit, where they trail Boston by 4.5 games. They are also four games back of Tampa Bay. Their last two series have gone well, as they swept Toronto and then took two out of three against Oakland over the weekend. They have been disappointing overall offensively, listed at No. 19 with a team batting average of .234. Second baseman DJ LeMahieu leads the team with 70 hits, but he is only batting .259.
Right fielder Aaron Judge has 68 hits and has blasted a team-high 15 home runs. Third baseman Gio Urshela has 64 hits, while shortstop Gleyber Torres has added 57. Designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton has blasted 13 homers. They are facing a Kansas City pitching staff that is No. 23 with a team ERA of 4.70. Right-handed pitcher Gerrit Cole will start for New York on Tuesday night. Cole threw a season-high eight innings in his last outing, giving up two runs on four hits against Toronto. He has struck out 117 batters through his first 14 starts, which is the most by any New York pitcher through 14 starts. Cole is 8-3 with a 2.31 ERA overall this season.
The Pick
This is about as big of a mismatch as you will find in an individual baseball game. New York has dominated Kansas City in recent matchups, winning five of the last six matchups. I have a lot of concerns about Singer, who was held to three innings in his last start as he works through shoulder tightness. New York’s lineup is not what you want to face when you are trying to get over an injury. On the other side, Cole is one of the best starters in the MLB and should shut down a Kansas City team that is without Benintendi.
Free MLB Pick: Yankees -1.5 (-136) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.