Royals vs. Rays Wednesday Prediction
Following a brief trip to the IR, Blake Snell will return to the mound on Wednesday afternoon when the Rays host the Royals at 1:10 p.m. ET. Given Snell’s return and Tampa being banged-up offensively, is the under a solid play for bettors?
Game Snapshot & Odds
963 Kansas City Royals (+228) at 964 Tampa Bay Rays (-250); 7 runs
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
1:10 p.m. ET, Tropicana Field, Tampa, FL
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Public Betting Trends
According to our MLB Public Betting Chart page, 72% of the betting tickets are on the Rays to beat the Royals on the moneyline.
Kansas City Royals Fantasy Spin
Hunter Dozier (back) remained out of the Royals’ lineup Wednesday. Dozier’s back acted up on him again during Monday’s game and he’s now sat out two straight. Hopefully he’ll be ready to go Friday after Thursday’s off day. Chris Owings is at third base again Wednesday.
Tampa Bay Rays Fantasy Spin
Mike Zunino went 3-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored in Tuesday’s win over the Royals. It took Zunino 15 games to hit his first homer but just one game to swat homer number two, hitting a righteous blast deep to left off Royals reliever Tim Hill in the sixth inning. The backstop has somewhat quietly put together a good stretch of games here recently after a brutal start to the year, hitting in eight straight while knocking five doubles, a triple and those two homers in the eight-game stretch. The good few weeks have his overall line up to .246/.283/.474.
MLB Betting Trends
Kansas City
The Royals are 1-5 in Jakob Junis’ last six road starts.
Tampa Bay
The Rays have won 22 of their last 30 games when playing the third game of a series.
Prediction:
Snell might be on a pitch count this afternoon but I assume he’s still good for 85-95 pitches. He’s striking out batters at an elite rate and faces a Royals offense that is likely to struggle in Tampa’s pitcher-friendly park. Meanwhile, the Rays will likely be without Austin Meadows and Ji-Mon Choi, which really hurts their lineup.
The Pick: Royals/Rays UNDER 7