The Kansas City Royals host the Minnesota Twins on April 2, 2026. First pitch from Kauffman Stadium is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ROYL.
The Royals are favored by -155 on the moneyline and by -1.5 on the run line. The Twins are +130 on the moneyline and +1.5 on the run line. The total is set at 9.5 runs.
Find my MLB picks and Twins vs Royals prediction below, as well as probable pitchers, weather report, and more.
Twins vs Royals Prediction
- Twins vs Royals Pick: Kansas City Royals ML -155 (Play to -165)
My Twins vs Royals best bet is on Kansas City to win outright. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live MLB odds page.
Twins vs Royals Odds
| Twins Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -160 | 9.5 100o / -120u | +130 |
| Royals Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 +135 | 9.5 100o / -120u | -155 |
- Twins vs Royals spread: Twins +1.5 (-160), Royals -1.5 (+135)
- Twins vs Royals over/under: 9.5 (+100o / -120u)
- Twins vs Royals moneyline: Twins +130, Royals -155
Twins vs Royals Projected Starting Pitchers
| RHP Taj Bradley (MIN) | Stat | LHP Cole Ragans (KC) |
|---|---|---|
| 0-0 | W-L | 0-1 |
| 0.2 | fWAR (FanGraphs) | -0.3 |
| 2.08 / 3.21 | ERA / xERA | 9.00 / 8.61 |
| 1.09 /1.76 | FIP / xFIP | 13.42 / 5.85 |
| 1.38 | WHIP | 2.50 |
| 31.6 | K-BB% | 4.8 |
| 42.9 | GB% | 33.3 |
| 128 | Stuff+ | 102 |
| 85 | Location+ | 75 |
Twins vs Royals Preview
Minnesota Twins Betting Preview
When Taj Bradley was coming up through the Tampa Bay Rays’ system, he was ranked one of baseball’s top pitching prospects. He has elite stuff, but has not been able to put it together consistently.
In three seasons with the Rays, he managed just a 4.70 ERA and 19-25 record before being traded to the Twins for Griffin Jax at last year's trade deadline.
Bradley saw similar struggles finishing the year in Minnesota, but started this season with promise, striking out nine batters through 4 1/3 innings in his season debut.
The issue for him has always been his control, and those issues remained last week, despite the strikeout numbers. Bradley’s day ended before completing five innings, largely due to the three walks he issued.
Despite a fastball that averages 97 miles per hour and can nearly touch 100, his fastball sits flat in the zone and has historically been hit hard by opponents. He has allowed a .896 career OPS against his fastball.
Bradley has tweaked his pitch mix a bit, and his cutter had a noticeable movement difference in his first start. The tools are there for him to be successful; it always comes down to command and limiting walks.
The Twins offense has been dreadful to start the season. They sit in the bottom 10 of most offense categories. The Twins came into the season with pretty low expectations, but I don’t think it was expected to look this bad.
Injury risk is typically the biggest concern with this team, but they are all healthy and still not hitting.
The young players Minnesota is really relying on to take a big step forward, like Luke Keaschall, Brooks Lee and Matt Wallner, are all hitting below .200 to begin the season.
Byron Buxton is a star, but he cannot do it all for this team.
Kansas City Royals Betting Preview
The Royals will have ace Cole Ragans return to the mound on Thursday, and he likely cannot wait to get back out there.
Ragans has all the tools to be one of the game’s most elite pitchers, but he did not look the part on Opening Day. He allowed three home runs and four walks to Atlanta in one of the worst outings in his career.
Ragans allowed just seven home runs last season (in 13 starts) and is nearly halfway there after one game.
The disappointing start came after his 2025 season was cut short due to a rotator cuff strain, resulting in just 13 starts. Ragans is looking to return to the form of his fantastic 2024 season when he finished with a 3.14 ERA and 223 strikeouts on his way to finishing fourth in the AL Cy Young voting.
Even with an injury-plagued season, Ragans showed his elite swing and miss stuff. His 14.3 K/9 rate set an MLB record for the best single-season mark for a starting pitcher with 10+ starts.
Action PRO projects him for 7.2 strikeouts this afternoon.
He finished with a 4.67 ERA, but his 2.67 xERA would have ranked fourth in the league among starters, just behind Paul Skenes and ahead of Tarik Skubal. Ragans just had extremely bad luck with a crazy high BABIP and low strand rate.
As bad as the Twins offense started the year, the Royals offense had been worse. Although they exploded last night, more than doubling their total runs on the season.
After scoring just nine runs in their first four games, the Royals scored 13 runs last night. They totaled 15 hits and all nine starters got a hit in their 13-9 win over Minnesota.
The star power at the top of the lineup has not quite been able to carry over their success from the World Baseball Classic, and the bottom half of the order has given them absolutely nothing until they came to life last night.
The Royals hope they can keep that momentum going into Thursday afternoon.
Kansas City moved the fences in at Kauffman Stadium to try to create a more hitter-friendly environment, and we finally saw that come to fruition yesterday.
Twins vs Royals Picks
I know it is a pretty price to pay, but it’s hard not to see Ragans bouncing back in a big way here.
He struggled with his command on Opening Day, which resulted in free passes and getting behind in counts, leading to mistakes. However, he still averaged 95 miles per hour with his fastball and struck out five hitters across four innings.
Ragans has dominated Minnesota in his career. In six starts against the Twins, he has a 1.85 ERA and has racked up 44 strikeouts in 34 innings. He has faced them more than any other opponent and has never allowed more than two runs in a start against them.
The Twins offense has really struggled to get going out of the gate, ranking 24th in scoring to begin the season. Sure, the Royals have struggled offensively as well, but the Royals are not facing one of the league’s best pitchers on Thursday.
While Bradley has a ton of talent, he has a habit of beating himself up. Throughout his career, Bradley has had a 3.35 BB/9 rate and averages two free passes per start. The best way to get on base when you aren’t hitting the ball is to take a free walk.
Even with their slow start, I am still going to take this Royals lineup over the Twins with the star power they have at the top in Maikel Garcia, Bobby Witt, Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez.
Kansas City has the better offense, the better defense, the better bullpen and the much better starting pitcher.
It is a steep moneyline price to pay for an offense that stumbled out of the gates, but they came to life last night, and In Ragans We Trust.
Pick: Kansas City Royals ML (-155, BetMGM | Play to -165)
