Twins vs. Royals Prediction, Betting Tips & Picks 5/21/2022

Seeking their 24th win of the year, the Minnesota Twins (23-16) are favorites (-141) on the moneyline when they take on the Kansas City Royals (14-24) Saturday at 7:10 PM ET. Minnesota’s Joe Ryan and Kansas City’s Brad Keller have been named the starters for this contest.

Twins vs. Royals Spread and Betting Line

Computer Predictions for Twins vs. Royals

Our computer pick: Kansas City Royals (+121) and Over (8)

Twins vs. Royals Game Info

• Minnesota Twins probable starting pitcher: Joe Ryan
• Kansas City Royals probable starting pitcher: Brad Keller
• Game Day: Saturday, May 21, 2022
• Game Time: 7:10 PM ET
• Location: Kansas City, Missouri
• Stadium: Kauffman Stadium

Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals Pitching Matchup

Twins Starter Joe Ryan

• Ryan (4-2) takes the mound for the Twins in his eighth start of the season. He has a 2.39 ERA in 37 2/3 innings pitched, with 36 strikeouts.
• The right-hander’s last appearance came on Sunday against the Cleveland Guardians, when he tossed six innings, surrendering one earned run while giving up four hits.
• In seven games this season, the 25-year-old has put up a 2.39 ERA and 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings, while giving up a batting average of .179 to his opponents.
• Ryan has four quality starts under his belt this season.
• Ryan enters the matchup with four outings of five or more innings pitched this campaign.
• The opposing Royals offense has a collective .233 batting average, and is 20th in the league with 298 total hits and 26th in MLB action with 137 runs scored. It has the 23rd-ranked slugging percentage (.355) and ranks 27th in home runs (27) in all of MLB.
• In six innings over one appearance against the Royals this season, Ryan has a 0.00 ERA and a 0.500 WHIP while his opponents are batting .111.

Royals Starter Brad Keller

• The Royals’ Keller (1-3) will make his eighth start of the season.
• The right-hander last pitched on Tuesday, when he gave up three earned runs and allowed eight hits in seven innings against the Chicago White Sox.
• The 26-year-old has an ERA of 2.89, a 2.778 strikeout to walk ratio and a WHIP of 1.008 in seven games this season.
• In seven starts this season, he’s earned a quality start in five of them.
• Keller will look to pitch five or more innings for the fifth start in a row.
• The Twins rank 13th in MLB with a .240 batting average this season. They have a team slugging percentage that ranks 11th in the league (.391) and 40 home runs.
• The 26-year-old’s 2.89 ERA ranks 23rd, 1.008 WHIP ranks 16th, and 5.2 K/9 ranks 56th among qualified pitchers in the majors this campaign.

Twins Betting Picks & Insights

• This season, the Twins have been favored 23 times and won 17, or 73.9%, of those games.
• This season, Minnesota has won 13 of its 15 games, or 86.7%, when favored by at least -141 on the moneyline.
• The Twins have a 58.5% chance to win this game based on the implied probability of the moneyline.
• Minnesota and its opponents have gone over the total this season in 15 of their 39 opportunities.
• The Twins are 18-21-0 ATS in their 39 games with a spread this season.

Royals Betting Picks & Insights

• The Royals have come away with 13 wins in the 36 contests they have been listed as the underdogs in this season.
• This year, Kansas City has won six of 21 games when listed as at least +121 or worse on the moneyline.
• Sportsbooks have implied with the moneyline set for this matchup that the Royals have a 45.2% chance of pulling out a win.
• Kansas City and their opponents have gone over in 18 of their 42 games with a total set by sportsbooks this season.
• In 42 games with a line this season, the Royals have a mark of 19-23-0 against the spread.

Twins Leaders & Batting Stats

• Byron Buxton leads the Twins with 11 big flies on the year. He’s also hitting .235 with 20 RBI.
• Max Kepler is batting .252 to pace his team.
• Kepler is 56th in home runs and 91st in RBI among all major league hitters this season.
• Jorge Polanco paces the Twins with 22 runs batted in.
• Luis Arraez has five doubles, a home run and 16 walks while batting .313.

Royals Leaders & Batting Stats

• Andrew Benintendi paces the Royals with a team-leading batting average of .302.
• In all of the majors, Benintendi ranks 178th in home runs and 91st in RBI.
• Benintendi carries a four-game hitting streak into this matchup. In his last five games he is batting .238 with a double and two walks.
• Whit Merrifield has been productive as he paces his team with 17 RBI.
• Among all MLB hitters, Merrifield is 178th in homers and 79th in RBI.
• Hunter Dozier has eight doubles, two triples, four home runs and seven walks while batting .287.
• Bobby Witt Jr. has nine doubles, two triples, four home runs and seven walks while batting .221.

Betting Tips for Twins vs. Royals

Our best bet is the Royals on the moneyline at +121 after analyzing all of the key statistics and trends for this matchup. Our computer projects the total score will over the total of 8 runs.