Kansas City Royals at Texas Rangers 5/12/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Kansas City Royals will close out a three-game road set at Globe Life Field against the Texas Rangers. Kansas City has lost its last three games, dropping the final two of a series with the Orioles and the first against the Rangers. Kansas City has struggled on the road this season going 3-9, and with the loss in the series opener dropped to 9-18 on the year. The Rangers lost two of three to the Yankees and moved to 12-16 with the series-opening win.

Both of these offenses have struggled to start the year with the Rangers hitting .220 and the Royals hitting .219, ranking 25th and 26th in the MLB. The Royals have been unable to hit the longball with just 13 on the season, the second-least in baseball. Salvador Perez has hit five of those but has struggled to get on base hitting just .196.

The Rangers have a couple of guys that have started the season on a solid note including Corey Seager who leads the team with 6 homeruns and 14 RBIs, and young right-fielder Adolis Garcia who has driven in 18 runs with four longballs. The Rangers have managed to score runs averaging 4.11 a game, and are 13th in scoring offense.

Kansas City will send out the 25-year-old Jonathan Heasley who has just three career starts in the MLB, and none this season. Heasley posted a 4.91 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP in 14.2 innings and isn’t a guy that is going to post a lot of strikeouts, he had just six but walked just three. Heasley allowed four runs on six hits in 5.1 innings in his last outing of the 2021 season. 

The Rangers will hand the ball to lefty Taylor Hearn, who has had an up-and-down season thus far. He had a strong outing in his last start pitching five solid innings, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out six. Hearn has posted a 1-2 record. 6.53 ERA and 1.84 WHIP across 20.2 innings in five starts this year.