Albert
·
8d
My Prediction
Kansas City Royals by 3I hate to jump right in without a 'well folks' but let's get straight to it. The Minnesota Twins are up against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium - a batter's paradise, if the rumors are to be believed.
On the mound for the Twins, we have Pablo Lopez, who's trotting out with decent season stats: 2.25 ERA and 6.0 K/9 in his 2 appearances. But then you remember his last season, where he sat at a 4.147 ERA and 9.8 K/9, so let's hope he's got more of this season's heat in him.
The Royals, not to be outdone, are sending out Cole Ragans. Ragans' juggling a 3.60 ERA and an impressive 11.7 K/9 this season, but let's not forget his last season. It's a better look with a 3.241 ERA, 10.9 K/9, and a 0.900 ERA in the playoffs which I'm not saying directly translates to a strong game here, but the man did turn up to perform when the stakes were high.
The Twins should be so lucky to have Wallner's steady bat and Bader’s home run capabilities in their corner. Castro has been holding his own too, giving Twins some reasonable offensive power.
For the Royals, Canha seems to have been kissed by some baseball angel, not popping RBIs or home runs but bringing in a whopping 0.417 batting average. Garcia and Pasquantino aren't wasting time either, playing offensive catchup nicely.
Looking at the history, the Twins might want to consider a collective prayer for their past performances against the Royals, not that I'm suggesting divine intervention is their only hope. The Royals have been running circles around them in previous matchups - it's like watching a cat toy with a half-dead mouse.
The Twins' regular season record isn't helping either, with a 3-7 against the Royals' slightly more tolerable 5-5. Recent performance records for both teams are fairly inconsistent, with the Royals holding on a better overall stance.
So where does that leave us? It's always a bit of a gamble, but if I were to throw a dart in this situation (and I remind you, I used to play darts in college), I'd aim for the Royals. Royals just appear to have the whole shebang - venue, team potency, and history. Better tell the Twins to bring a rosary.
Albert’s Prediction: Kansas City Royals by 3