Royals vs Guardians Opening Day Prediction and Betting Odds April 7
KC Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Betting Preview
Play Ball! WagerTalk MLB handicapper Andy Lang offers his KC Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Opening Day betting preview for Thursday, April 7. The Guardians owned the Royals last season, winning 14 of 19 games in the head-to-head season series. Can Kansas City reverse that trend with a home win on Opening Day?
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| Thursday, April 7 | MLB Betting Notes, Courtesy of Caesars |
|---|---|
| Moneyline: | Cleveland Guardians -120 at Kansas City Royals +110 |
| Runline: | Guardians -1.5 (+130) / Royals +1.5 (-150) |
| Total: | 8 Runs (-110 Each Way) |
| Game Time: | 4:10pm ET / 1:10pm PT |
| Where: | Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City |
| Weather: | 49* with 23mph Winds Blowing Out to Right-Center |
KC Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Analysis
The newly named Cleveland Guardians kickoff their 2022 season in Kansas City against the Royals. The Royals landed in fourth place in the American League Central last season but have made some moves to improve. Cleveland came in second place in the division, but never contended for a playoff spot as they were a distant 13 games behind the Chicago White Sox.
Greinke Returns To Original Stomping Grounds
The Kansas City Royals made one small free agent acquisition with Zack Greinke, who will start on Opening Day. Greinke broke into the majors with Kansas City in 2004 and won the American League Cy Young award in 2009 before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in the offseason.
Since then, he has been a borderline Hall of Famer with stops in Anaheim, Los Angeles and Houston before ultimately returning to the Royals. Greinke certainly isn’t the pitcher he was in his heyday, but he is a cerebral and crafty veteran who has been able to adapt.
Kansas City will look to improve on an offense that ranked 23rd in runs scored with an average of only 4.23 runs a game and 27th in home runs. The Royals offense could get a boost from one of the games top prospects in Bobby Witt Jr. who has officially made the Opening Day roster.
He will be surrounded by the speed of lead-off man Whit Merrifield and the power of catcher Salvador Perez. Perez hit 48 home runs in 2021, which was tied for most in the league. Perez set the record for home runs while taking more than 75-percent of his reps at the Catcher position.
Fresh Start For Guardians
Cleveland underwent a name change in the off-season and will be sporting a new logo to enter the 2022 season. However they are sporting most of the same roster they had in 2021. The Guardians were able to ink two key players in Jose Ramirez and Emmanuel Clase to extensions that will keep them in Cleveland for years to come. Manager Terry Francona is healthy and will surely have his team prepared for the ups and downs of a long season.
Zack Greinke won’t be the only former Cy Young award winner to appear in this game, as the American League winner from 2020, Shane Bieber, takes the mound for Cleveland. Bieber missed most of last season with a shoulder injury. However Bieber had pitched excellent prior to the injury with a 7-4 record, 3.17 ERA and 12.5 K/9 rate over the course of 16 starts.
The Guardians; offense was just below average last season, ranking 18th in runs scored and 22nd in batting average. They do have some potent hitters in the middle of the order in Amed Rosario who led the team with a .282 batting average and Jose Ramirez who led the team with 36 home runs.
KC Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Prediction
The Cleveland Guardians enter this game as slight road favorites and you have to give Cleveland an edge in starting pitching. Shane Bieber should be able to chew threw this lineup, who played well below average last season.
Zack Greinke should be crafty enough to work around a mediocre lineup that he has dominated historically. Current Guardians hitters have a .125 batting average, .337 OPS and only two home runs in 57 at-bats against him.
While both teams have two or three dynamic players, neither team has a lineup that scares you top to bottom. We’re a long way away from the hot summer days when baseballs fly out of the ballpark. With temperatures not expected to crack 50-degrees in Kansas City, we’re taking a look at the under.
Official Play: Under 8 Runs
Interested in placing a bet on Thursday’s KC Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Opening Day clash? Caesars Sports is offering up to a $1,500 match bet for first-time deposits in New Jersey, West Virginia, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, New York and Louisiana.
2022 MLB Division Previews
Sportsmemo’s content team has the 2022 MLB season covered from every angle. Before this afternoon’s first pitch, check out the division previews from JM Sports, which highlight the incoming and outgoing players from each team. Content Manager Kyle Kargel, breaks down the DraftKings prop markets for most home runs, strikeouts and stolen bases. Check ’em out!
AL East
AL Central
AL West
NL East
NL Central
NL West
First Pitch | MLB Opening Day Predictions for April 7
Join Drew Martin and a rotating panel of guests for First Pitch as we break down the daily baseball slate from a betting perspective. The Atlanta Braves will raise their 2021 World Series banner at Truist Park tonight. Will they cap off the festivities with an Opening Night win over Cincinnati? Join WagerTalk’s team of MLB betting experts every weekday at 1:45pm ET / 10:45am PT for First Pitch as we discuss the baseball betting slate.
WagerTalk Live Odds Screen
WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the MLB moneylines, run lines and betting percentages for all of Thursday’s Opening Day games, including this KC Royals vs Cleveland Guardians showdown, from your desktop or phone.
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Meet the Author
Andy Lang has lived in Indianapolis his whole life, and like most people from the Hoosier State, he became fascinated with motor sports. That interest in motor sports turned into a desire to make money off the sport through fantasy contests and sports betting. Like most, he took his lumps when he first got started, but now he is one of the most respected NASCAR bettors in the industry. Andy has expanded that sports betting experience to become profitable in a number of other sports, transforming this interest from a side hobby to a major source of income.
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