Cleveland Indians at Kansas City Royals 9/2/21 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Cleveland Indians will close out a series on the road at Kauffman Stadium against the Kansas City Royals. The two AL Central foes have both struggled this season, and neither has much of a shot to make the playoff, but the Indians have won two in a row to get back over .500 at 65-64 on the year. The Royals have lost two in a row, and are 17 games back in the NL Central.

Kansas City is one of the better teams in the MLB when it comes to hitting for contact, they’re hitting .245 on the year which ranks 9th in the league but score just over 4 runs per game, and rank 24th in the MLB in scoring offense. Catcher Salvador Perez has established himself as one of the best hitting catchers in the league with 38 homeruns and 94 RBIs, ranking third and fourth in the MLB respectively. 

The left-hander Kris Bubic will get the start for the Royals, he’s had some struggles this season going 4-6 with a 5.18 ERA. Bubic is coming off a rough outing in his last one, allowing five runs on nine hits and walked four but the Royals stormed back to beat the Mariners 8-7 in 12 innings. The second-year Bubic has regressed this season from his 10 appearances in his rookie season where he posted a 4.32 ERA on the year.

Cleveland has had their struggles at the plate this year and comes in 21st in team batting average hitting .238 and are 16th in scoring offense averaging 4.47 runs per contest. Amed Rosario is having a nice season after being traded from the Mets last year, he’s leading the Indians hitting .290 on the season. Third baseman Jose Ramirez is leading the team with 31 homeruns and 84 RBIs, while he continues to be a consistent piece of the Indians puzzle. 

The young right-hander Triston McKenzie will get the start he has had a rough rookie season, going 3-5 with a 4.83 ERA but a solid 1.15 WHIP on the year. McKenize has had two excellent starts in a row pitching a combined 15 innings allowing just a single run on three hits and posted 19 strikeouts to just one walk.