Texas Rangers at Houston Astros 6/16/21 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Texas Rangers will hope to pull off a major upset for the second straight night when they go on the road to Minute Maid Park to take on the Houston Astros. The Astros have continued to be a contender in the AL West, currently sitting two games back of the Athletics at 37-28 after securing a series win over the Twins with a 14-3 in the finale. The Rangers sit last in that division having lost seven of their last ten games and dropping to 25-41 after losing a series with the Dodgers. 

Houston continues to be one of the best lineups in baseball hitting .274 as a team and scoring 5.51 runs per game, both of which are leading the team. Left fielder Michael Brantley is hitting .337 which ranks 4th in the MLB this season, he’s also driven in 21 runs on the year. First baseman Yuli Gurriel is tied-7th in the MLB in batting average hitting .323 and RBIs with 47. The dangers of this Astros lineup come from the depth; they have 7-8 guys taking the field every night that can make a pitcher pay.

The long-right hander Zack Greinke will take the mound for the Astros and comes into this start at 6-2 with a 3.68 ERA on the year. Greinke has been a cornerstone of the Astros rotation in the last three years but has shown signals of his age with a 4+ ERA last season and the strike-out numbers dipping to 6.5K/9 this year.

Texas has had real struggles at the plate this season hitting .230 as a team and averaging just 3.97 runs per game, ranking 22nd and 23rd in the MLB respectively. The 28-year-old rookie right-fielder Adolis Garcia has been an impressive bat in the lineup this season, coming in leading the team with 16 home runs (t-7th in the MLB) and 46 RBIs (9th in the MLB). Third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa has also proved to be a solid young player, leading the Rangers to hit .294 on the year. 

The struggling right-hander Jordan Lyles will get the ball for the Rangers and hope to turn around his sluggish start to the year where he’s 2-4 with a 5.37 ERA. Lyles is coming off a solid outing his last timeout, pitching six innings allowing six hits and a solo-home run, but walked three to just three strikeouts. Lyles isn’t going to be a strikeout guy, averaging just 6.9K/( across his career but he does have the ability to eat innings in the middle of the rotation.