Royals, Rangers Falling Into Early Hole
Both the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers are about ready to step off the edge of a very deep hole.
Yes, it’s only the first month of the season, and there is a long way to go, but neither team is showing much life and promise for the ongoing MLB season. Both teams were supposed to have a day off Monday, but due to weather postponements earlier in the weekend, both played out East before heading to Arlington.
Let’s check the latest MLB lines, stats, injury reports, and MLB odds for Royals vs Rangers. We’ve plenty of MLB spreads.
Royals Trying but Not Much Moving
The Kansas City Royals’ struggles are not for a lack of trying. Manager Mike Matheny is not the type of manager to deal with a lack of hustle and effort. That certainly is not happening on his watch.
But the Royals are trying to build up another good, young team while retaining several key veterans. They have a good mix of young and veteran players throughout the roster. Developing the team for the future is the key right now.
Neither the offense nor the pitching staff is performing well right now. The offense shows some bursts of brilliance from time to time but is just not consistent enough to beat even mediocre teams at the moment, as they just struggled most of the weekend with the lowly Baltimore Orioles.
The pitching staff is young and inexperienced but needs to continue to claw their way through the season and learn for the future.
As for their performance on the sportsbooks, the Royals have not been great. They are often the underdog and have a hard time coming through against the runline.
The Royals have a chance to do some damage against the poor pitching staff of the Rangers, but they need to get their act together. With Brad Keller on the mound, they could have a fighting chance to win.
Rangers Struggling to Compete in AL West
Everyone was excited about the moves that the Rangers made in the offseason to bring in some big-name free agents that can produce. Signing some big, long-term contracts is a decent building block for the foundation, but it seems that the Rangers are still a long way off from being true competitors, especially in the AL West, which tends to have strong competition from year to year.
Though the Rangers have a decent offensive presence, the lack of consistency has hurt them all season. They tend to rely on the long ball for their scoring but have struggled greatly to put runs on the board consistently.
Even though they are averaging four runs a game, their pitching is giving up slightly higher than that at 4.1 runs per game. Surprisingly, they only have a -3 run differential for the whole season.
So even though they currently have a losing record, the Texas Rangers are keeping most games close. They have been the favorite in all of their games this year, but are only 11-16.
Something to watch for is their ability to cover the runline, where they are 16-11. So when they win, they are winning by two or more. When they lose, they are losing by a slim margin.
Royals vs Rangers Head-to-Head
In 2021, the Rangers took the season series four games to two over the Royals. The Rangers managed to win their four games by a fair margin, but it seemed that all six games in the season series were higher scoring affairs between the two teams.
Their records might not show how impressive they have been for struggling teams, but Brad Keller for the Royals and Martin Perez for the Rangers have been outstanding as of late. They will both look to continue that streak Tuesday in hopes that their bullpens can seal the deal.
Royals vs Rangers Game Information
- Game: Royals (9-17) vs Rangers (11-16)
- Location: Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX
- Day/Time: Tuesday, May 10th, 8:05 p.m. ET
- Royals vs Rangers Live stream: MLB.tv
Take a Look at 2 Other Picks For This Week’s MLB Games
Royals vs Rangers Betting Lines
Royals vs Rangers Prediction
No shocker here that the MLB lines on this game are somewhat tight, with two sub-par teams going against one another. But the Rangers are the favorites at -130 on the moneyline.
A smarter and more profitable bet is to take the Rangers runline at -1½ +140. They have a good track record of covering the runline, more so than actually winning games.
When you bet online, take the Rangers to cover the -1½ runline at +140.
