Orioles vs. Royals Bets: How to approach player props from Baltimore-Kansas City on April 1

The Orioles and Royals enter this series on opposite ends of the spectrum. Baltimore lost Sunday’s matchup with the Angels 4-1 but still won the series 2-1. KC put 11 up against the Twins on Sunday, avoiding a sweep to start the season.

Both teams will start a right-hander in Game 1 of this three-game set, with Dean Kramer going for Baltimore opposite KC’s Michael Wacha. Here’s a look at some of their 2023 individual splits from their respective player pages in the DraftKings Sportsbook Stats Hub:

MICHAEL WACHA SPLITS

DEAN KREMER SPLITS

Couple things jump out when looking at these numbers:

• Kremer had a tough time with left-handed hitting last season
• Lefties were slightly better against Wacha last season, but the difference isn’t major
• Wacha gave up slightly fewer hits per game as an underdog, but hitters posted a higher average against him in those games

Both pitchers have a hits allowed line of 4.5. Here’s a look at how often each went over that number last season, along with some alternate numbers:

WACHA

KREMER

With the Royals featuring four left-handed bats to go with Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez, Kramer over 4.5 hits allowed at +115 is a play I like. Especially after seeing Kramer gave up five-plus hits as often as he did throughout 2023.

Now here’s a look at how some of this game’s hitter performed over the season’s first three games against their hits line for Monday’s matchup via the Consistency Sheets in the DraftKings Sportsbook Stats Hub:

While lefties didn’t light up Wacha last season, the fact they were slightly better against him throughout 2023 puts Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander on my radar instantly. One out of every 8.43 of Santander’s at-bats in 2023 resulted in an extra-base hit. For Henderson, it was one out of every 7.22.

The beautiful part about both Henderson and Santander is they’re coming off games in which they failed to log a hit. Parlaying them to each log a hit is +110 (jumps to +190 if Witt is thrown in the mix or +215 if Perez becomes third wheel instead). But where I lean strongest is Henderson over 1.5 total bases at +130. After logging two extra-base hits in Game 2 vs. the Angels, he walked twice and one of his two outs was a lineout. Frustrating day, but clearly he didn’t go cold following a strong showing.

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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.

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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.

The contents contained in this article do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment.