Royals vs Cubs Odds, Picks, and Probable Pitchers (August 20)
By Robert Duff in MLB Baseball
Published:
- The Kansas City Royals are -115 away favorites over the Chicago Cubs in an afternoon interleague game slated for Friday, August 20
- It’s the first time the two clubs have met during the 2021 campaign
- The Cubs took three of four games from the Royals last season
The dog days of August are in full force for the Chicago Cubs (54-69, 31-28 home) and Kansas City Royals (52-68-, 20-37 away). The Royals are in the basement of the American League Central. Only the dreadful Pittsburgh Pirates are keeping the Cubs out of the National League Central cellar.
The Cubs are on a two-game winning streak. That’s coming on the heels of a 12-game losing skid.
Nonetheless, it’s the visiting Royals that the oddsmakers like in this game. Kansas City is the slight -115 chalk. Betting on the Cubbies will draw odds of -105. The Royals are just 4-3 as an away favorite in 2021.
Royals vs Cubs Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Royals | -115 | OFF | OFF |
| Chicago Cubs | -105 | OFF | OFF |
Odds as of August 19th at DraftKings.
Friday’s first pitch is set for 2:20pm ET at Wrigley Field. Clear skies are in the forecast, along with 9 mph wind, and a temperature of 84 degrees.
Keller vs Davies
| 7-12 | Record | 6-9 |
| 5.62 | ERA | 5.00 |
| 6.48 | xERA | 5.97 |
| 1.68 | WHIP | 1.53 |
| 1.85 | SO/W Ratio | 1.47 |
Two pitchers who are, to put it mildly, seriously scuffling this season, will square off in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. Cubs right-hander Zach Davies is among the bottom 6% in all of baseball in xERA (5.97), xwOBA (.366), and xBA (.284).
Brad Keller, Wicked 84mph Slider…and Sword. ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/jce5sbFCpk
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 19, 2020
Royals right-hander Brad Keller rates in the bottom 1% of MLB in xERA (6.48), xwOBACON (.432) and xwOBA (.379). Keller is also in the bottom 4% in xBA (.290), the bottom 5% in xSLG (.497), and the bottom 9% in hard-hit percentage (45.3).
In three August starts, Keller is 0-3 with a 6.14 ERA and 1.84 WHIP. He’s walked an AL-high 59 batters this season. He’s 1-1 in two career starts against the Cubs with a 3.27 ERA and 1.36 WHIP. This will be the first time he’s ever pitched at Wrigley Field.
In his first year with the Cubs, Davies has started an NL-leading 25 games. He’s 0-2 with a 10.50 ERA in three August starts. Davies has given up six home runs over his past 12 innings pitched. Couple that with a career-high 4.29 walks per nine innings and Davies is often his own worst enemy.
https://twitter.com/StickyCheck/status/1408279511188262914?s=20
He’s winless at Wrigley over his past four starts there, going 0-2. Davies last won a home game on June 24. Davies is 1-5 over his last nine starts.
Against the Royals, Davies is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in one start covering six innings. However, that win was at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium.
Batting Average vs Starting Pitchers
| Cubs Batters | Batting Average vs Keller | Royals Batters | Batting Average vs Davies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sergio Alcantara | .000 | Hanser Alberto | .000 |
| David Bote | .500 | Andrew Benintendi | .000 |
| Robinson Chirinos | .000 | Hunter Dozier | .000 |
| Matt Duffy | .000 | Jarrod Dyson | .000 |
| Ian Happ | .000 | Cam Gallagher | .000 |
| Michael Hermosillo | .500 | Nicky Lopez | .000 |
| Jason Heyward | .200 | Whit Merrifield | .000 |
| Rafael Ortega | .000 | Ryan O’Hearn | .000 |
| Andrew Romine | .000 | Salvador Perez | .333 |
| Austin Romine | .000 | Emmanuel Rivera | .000 |
| Frank Schwindel | .000 | Carlos Santana | .000 |
| Patrick Wisdom | .000 | Michael A Taylor | .500 |
Royals catcher Salvador Perez is 1-for-3 (.333) with a solo home run when facing Davies. Centerfielder Michael A Taylor is 3-for-6 (.500).
MLB Network on Salvador Perez’s case for Cooperstown. #Royals @MLBNetwork https://t.co/T2toNHGE94 pic.twitter.com/vZIfSFCrkf
— Josh Vernier (@JoshVernier610) August 14, 2021
Cubs second baseman David Bote is 2-for-4 (.500) with three RBI against Keller. Outfielder Michael Hermosillo is 1-for-2 (.500).
Royals vs Cubs Pick
Kansas City has won three of its last four games. The Royals blew a 3-0 lead on Thursday and lost 6-3 to the Houston Astros. That outcome prevented a KC sweep of the four-game series.
Keller is enduring a horrid year but historically pitches well against the Cubs. He’s held Chicago hitters to a .235 batting average.
Hunter Dozier #17 of the Kansas City @Royals is doused with water by Salvador Perez #13 as they celebrate a 3-2 win over the Houston Astros at Kauffman Stadium 📸: Ed Zurga #TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/BKJfjAKayB
— Getty Images Sport (@GettySport) August 19, 2021
The Cubs have won three of four from the Royals. At Wrigley Field, Chicago is 4-0 in the last four against Kansas City and 7-2 through the last nine games there. Chicago is 14-37 overall through the last 51 games. The Cubbies are 8-24 over that past 32 games when facing a right-handed starter. They’ve also dropped the opening game of each of their past six series.
KC is 18-43 over the past 61 games against a righty starter. The Royals are 16-35 in their last 51 road games. They’re also 1-5 through their past six inter-league games.
Pick: Kansas City Royals (-115).
Sports Writer
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
