Taking place in the later window of Saturday’s MLB slate, the Kansas City Royals will face off with the Colorado Rockies. The series opened between these two opponents on Friday, with the Rockies producing a 3-1 win. Neither team has had a desirable season, but they will measure up against each other Saturday night in this interleague matchup as Luinder Avila and Ryan Feltner take the ball for their respective squads.
Looking at the odds, the Rockies enter as narrow -131 favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Royals are +109 underdogs, with the run total set at O/U 11.5 Runs.
Royals at Rockies prediction, preview
The Kansas City Royals sit in last place in the American League Central with a 46-65 record. This is the fourth-worst record in MLB, and Kansas City enters this matchup coming off back-to-back losses. Still, the Royals have shown some signs of life since returning from the All-Star break, going 8-6 in those games. On the season, Kansas City has gone 51-60 to the run line, and the run total is 50-59-2 to the over/under.
Luinder Avila will get the start for the Royals on Saturday, his 12th of the season and 21st appearance overall. The 24-year-old enters with a 5-3 record, a 4.95 ERA, a 1.57 WHIP, six home runs allowed, and 59 strikeouts tallied across 67.1 innings pitched. Avila has been stretched out as the season has progressed, and he has gone five or more innings in seven of his last 10 appearances. He has never faced a member of this Rockies lineup at the major league level.
Looking at the production at the plate, the Royals are slashing a collective .245/.314/.396 with a .710 OPS. Kansas City ranks 14th in hits, 24th in runs, 15th in home runs, and 23rd in strikeouts. Bobby Witt Jr. leads the team with 103 hits, along with 13 home runs and 39 RBIs, but is currently sidelined on the injured list. Jac Caglianone has had an impressive season with 91 hits, a team-leading 17 home runs and 40 RBIs. Salvador Perez and Carter Jensen each add 15 home runs of their own, while combining for 99 RBIs. Lane Thomas has also cracked 10 home runs this season, while Michael Massey, Isaac Collins, and Nick Loftin also play notable roles.
The Colorado Rockies enter with the second-worst record in baseball and are last in the National League West with a 43-67 record. Friday’s victory snapped a four-game losing streak, and they are 4-8 overall since returning from the All-Star break. On the season, the Rockies have gone 58-52 to the run line, and the game total is 51-56-3 to the over/under.
Ryan Feltner will get the start for Colorado on Saturday. The 29-year-old enters with a 3-5 record, a 5.73 ERA, a 1.46 WHIP, with 15 home runs allowed, and 54 strikeouts across his 70.2 innings pitched. Feltner has allowed four or more earned runs in three consecutive starts and is posting a 6.98 ERA across his past eight appearances. He has faced this Royals lineup in just 15 at-bats in his career, limiting them to two hits and a .267 OPS in these opportunities.
Colorado is slashing a collective .252/.322/.415 with a .737 OPS on the season. They rank sixth in hits, 19th in home runs, and ninth in total runs scored. TJ Rumfield leads the team with 111 hits on the season, along with 13 home runs and 54 RBIs. Hunter Goodman posts a team-leading 31 home runs and 60 RBIs, while Mickey Moniak, Willi Castro, and Jake McCarthy each have recorded double-digit long balls as well. Troy Johnston, Kyle Karros, and Ezequiel Tovar also play key roles.
Royals at Rockies pick, best bet
Neither of these teams is in much of a position to make noise for the rest of the season and have rightly earned their place in the cellar of MLB standings. This battle between underwhelming offenses and subpar pitching is a bit of the “movable object vs. stoppable force” debate.
The Rockies produced a 3-1 victory in the series opener, in which both pitchers largely impressed. There were 11 hits in the matchup, with just one of those coming after the bullpens took over. This is uncharacteristic as these two bullpens are producing the second-worst and fourth-worst bullpen ERAs in baseball.
Expect the outlook to shift back on Saturday as each pitching staff hemorrhages runs. Feltner has allowed 15 home runs on the season and six in his past three starts alone, en route to 17 earned runs in his last 11.2 innings pitched. He is posting a 6.98 ERA across his past eight starts after opening the season with a 4.22 ERA in his first seven. On the other side of the matchup, there should not be much greater optimism for Avila. He has allowed 37 earned runs in just 67.1 innings pitched while walking 39 batters. The 24-year-old is posting a 5.75 ERA across his past eight starts after posting a 4.02 ERA to start the season across his first 12 appearances.
Both these pitches are fading as the season has progressed, and these teams were forced to burn some of their top bullpen arms on Friday. While 12 is a high run total, expect this number to be surpassed Saturday night with each offense taking advantage of their favorable pitching matchup. Coors Field is one of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in baseball, and this has the makings of a game in which fans could get quite a few souvenirs in the outfield seats. Buckle up for plenty of offense and for each team to put up some crooked numbers throughout.
Best bet: Run Total Over 11.5 (-108)
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