MLB Odds & Picks for Royals vs. Yankees: Expect Plenty of Runs

Royals vs. Yankees Odds

The Kansas City Royals have gotten off to a weird start in the second half of the season. They took a home series from the Tampa Bay Rays before dropping a home series to the struggling Los Angeles Angels.

Now they head to New York to take on the Yankees, and they will get the first look at their former teammate Andrew Benintendi in pintsripes.

The Yankees seemed to have resolved a hole in their offense by adding a high-contact, left-handed bat to their already stacked offense. However, the Yankees just got swept in a two-game series against their interleague rivals, the New York Mets.

They look to get back on track as they return to the Bronx.

Jameson Taillon will try to prevent the Yankees from starting an official losing streak, while Brady Singer gets the ball for the Royals to start this weekend four-game set.

Benintendi Stands as Big Loss for Royals

Obviously, losing a bat like Benintendi is huge for the Royals, and there may be more departures to come.

On the other hand, the youth movement seems to have energized the Royals' offense, and losing a high-contact corner outfielder with limited power isn't the end of the world.

The Royals have been inconsistent on the road so far this season in terms of how they perform against RHP. Overall, they have a 99 wRC+, which is just below league average.

Their numbers don't look as good in recent weeks. They have only posted an 84 wRC+ on the road against RHP over the past few weeks, but their last road series came against the top of the Toronto Blue Jays' rotation, which would definitely way their recent offensive numbers down.

Singer takes the mound for the Royals, and he's put together a relatively solid season. He also has respectable road numbers, as well. Over 23 1/3 road innings, Singer has posted a 3.86 ERA, a 3.59 FIP and a 3.13 xFIP. Those are all numbers you can respect.

The Royals' bullpen does not command the same respect unfortunately. Although they have performed better of late, they are still one of the most unreliable units in MLB.

Yankees' Offense Ready to Crush

Taillon hit a little bit of a rough patch heading into the All-Star break. However, he was able to turn in solid starts in his last two outings.

Taillon also has fared well at home this season, posting a 3.49 ERA, a 3.26 FIP and a 3.70 xFIP over 56 2/3 innings at Yankee Stadium.

Despite being a solid unit over the course of the season, the Yankees' bullpen has only been league average over the past couple of weeks. However, the deeper into the game Taillon goes, the better the Yankees' bullpen options are.

The Yankees' offense is still one of the best in the game — they have crushed RHP at home lately and all season.

While Singer has been solid on the road this season, the Yankees seem to find ways to generate offense no matter who is on the mound.

With Benintendi now in the fold, the Yankees' tough lineup just got a little bit tougher to navigate.

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Royals-Yankees Pick

I think both teams should be feeling a little extra motivation following the Benintendi trade. The Yankees have fortified their offense, while the Royals look to move forward and let their youth movement take the next step.

The under is set at 8.5 for Thursday night, and considering the Yankees' prolific offense and the Royals' unreliable bullpen, there is going to be a good opportunity for the over to hit.

Two highly-motivated offenses and two pitching situations that don't evoke optimal confidence make the over the most appealing play on Thursday.

The over opened at 9 and quickly moved down to 8.5, but I don't know, I'm not feeling the under. That's kind of how this works. I just write what I think will happen.

Play the over to -120 or better.

Pick: Over 8.5 -115