Thursday Night Baseball Preview: Detroit Tigers Vs. Kansas City Royals

Pitching Matchup: Matt Boyd (1-5, 7.12 ERA) vs. Edinson Volquez (12-7, 3.27 ERA)

Matt Boyd: Tonight’s game will be Boyd’s 8^th Major League start but it will also be the third time he has started against the Royals in a month. His lone win in his MLB career came against the Royals on 7 strong innings of one-run ball, by far his most impressive start in his young career. Outside of that specific start, Boyd has been very shaky yielding at least 3 runs in every other outing.

Edinson Volquez: The signing of Volquez may be one of the most important reasons to why the Royals are where they are. Through 27 starts with the Royals, Volquez has surrounded 3 earned runs or less 21 times. Volquez has struggled against Detroit in his career, with an ERA of 5.34 over 5 starts. He is 0-2 against them in 2015, allowing 7 runs over 13 innings. Both pitchers seem vulnerable to an onslaught of runs this Thursday night in Kansas City.  

Miguel being Miguel

Some injuries and an underperforming team have taken the spotlight off Miguel Cabrera, who once again is the best hitter in the American League. With enough at-bats to now qualify, Cabrera is currently leading the AL in batting average with a sizzling .359 - .036 points higher than the next closest player. Cabrera is dangerous every single at-bat and with the excellent J.D Martinez usually hitting behind him, pitchers cannot pitch around him.

The Beasts in the Pen

The Royals bullpen has been busy this year, pitching the fifth most innings in the Majors. The Royals bullpen ranks better in two more important categories – ERA and batting average. The Royals bullpen has a collective ERA of 2.38 and is holding opponents to a paltry .207 batting average. The bullpen is one of the major reasons – along with outstanding defense and timely hitting – the Royals are one of the favourites to win the World Series in 2015. 

Category : Betting Picks

Tag : baseball , baseball betting , Detroit Tigers , edinson volquez , kansas city royals , matt boyd , mlb , mlb betting , thursday night baseball

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