Royals vs. Diamondbacks prediction and odds for Wednesday, April 26 (Happy Zac Gallen day)
By Peter Dewey
One of the best surprises early in the 2023 MLB season is the success of the young Arizona Diamondbacks, who are 13-12 and in second place in the NL West.
Arizona’s fast start has come despite the team ranking 24th in MLB in ERA this season, but the D-Backs have their ace on the mound on Wednesday night.
Zac Gallen (3-1, 2.59 ERA) gets the ball against the Kansas City Royals, who have the second worst record in all of baseball at 6-18.
Kansas City simply doesn’t have the pitching to compete this season, ranking 28th in the league in ERA. That’s a problem when you’ve only scored 82 runs in 24 games this season.
Ryan Yarbrough (0-2, 7.62 ERA) will make his first start of the season, likely just as an opener, for the Royals in this matchup.
Here are the latest odds and my best bet for this game:
Royals vs. Diamondbacks odds, run line and total
Royals vs. Diamondbacks prediction and pick
After two bad starts to begin the 2023 season, Zac Gallen is back to his old self.
The D-Backs ace has allowed zero earned runs in his last three starts, holding opponents to just seven hits over his last 20.2 innings of work.
I love him to shut down a Kansas City lineup that ranks 29th in the league in OPS so far this season.
The Royals using an opener means they’ll need to rely on their bullpen, and not only has Yarbrough been bad, but the Royals pen has been terrible.
Kansas City ranks 29th in the league in bullpen ERA (6.29) this season.
The Diamondbacks should absolutely roll in this game, especially since they’ve won Gallen’s last four outings.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.