
Texas Rangers

Cleveland Guardians
(-120/+100)-160
The Cleveland Guardians will host the Texas Rangers on September 27, 2025, in an intriguing American League matchup at Progressive Field. Both teams are coming off a competitive series, with the Guardians looking to capitalize on their recent form. They have posted an 86-74 record this season, signaling an above-average performance, while the Rangers have an 81-79 record, indicating they have had an average year at best.
In yesterday’s matchup, the Guardians narrowly edged out the Rangers in a tightly contested battle, further intensifying this series. Today’s game features Guardians’ left-handed pitcher Joey Cantillo, who has made a strong impression this season, ranking as the 75th best starting pitcher in MLB according to advanced stats. Cantillo is 5-3 with a commendable ERA of 3.21, although his 3.77 xFIP suggests he may have benefitted from some good fortune this year. He projects to pitch 5.2 innings, allowing an average of 2.1 earned runs, but his tendency to give up 4.6 hits and 1.7 walks could pose challenges against the Rangers’ lineup.
Merrill Kelly, the right-handed pitcher for Texas, comes into this game with a 12-9 record and a solid ERA of 3.52, ranking him 55th among starting pitchers. He projects to pitch 5.1 innings and allow an average of 2.4 earned runs, but like Cantillo, he also faces issues with allowing hits and walks.
Offensively, the Guardians rank 29th in MLB, struggling with their batting average and power numbers. In contrast, the Rangers, while also ranking low at 26th in overall offense, hold an advantage in stolen bases, coming in at 9th this season.
With the Guardians favored at -155 on the moneyline and an implied team total of 3.84 runs, they are expected to perform well given their stronger overall record. However, both teams face challenges, setting the stage for a closely contested game.
Texas Rangers Insights
- Merrill Kelly – Over/Under 4.5 Strikeouts (-115/-115)Merrill Kelly’s change-up usage has spiked by 5.1% from last season to this one (21% to 26.1%) .Explain: Because change-ups are one of the most effective pitches to use, a pitcher who alters his pitch mix to use more of them will often see more success as a result.
- Jake Burger – Over/Under 0.5 Hits (-170/+135)Jake Burger has been unlucky this year, compiling a .295 wOBA despite the leading projection system (THE BAT X) estimating his true talent level to be .347 — a .052 gap.Explain: Players that are underperforming should be expected to play worse going forward, which can create value on prop Overs if the lines are too heavily weighing the unlucky, to-date underperformance.
- Josh Jung – Over/Under 1.5 Total Bases (+140/-185)Josh Jung hits a lot of his flyballs to center field (40.7% — 98th percentile) but may find it hard to clear MLB’s 8th-deepest CF fences today.Explain: This player’s skill set does not match up particularly well with the park he’s in today, which may lead to worse-than-usual performance.
Cleveland Guardians Insights
- Joey Cantillo – Over/Under 5.5 Strikeouts (+110/-140)Joey Cantillo’s fastball velocity has dropped 1.2 mph this year (91 mph) below where it was last season (92.2 mph).Explain: Velocity is a key component to fastball success in generating strikeouts and preventing runs, so a pitcher whose velocity decreases will likely see worse results.
- Bo Naylor – Over/Under HitsBo Naylor has primarily hit in the back-half of the batting order this season (81% of the time), but he is penciled in 5th on the lineup card today.Explain: The higher in the order a player bats, the more plate appearances he will get and the more opportunities he will get to hit the Over for every market. A player who hits higher in the order than he normally does may provide extra value opportunity since the market may be based on him hitting lower.
- The Cleveland Guardians have 3 bats in their projected offense today with a high (i.e. over 27%) underlying K% (according to the leading projection system, THE BAT X) (C.J. Kayfus, George Valera, Gabriel Arias).Explain: Teams that have multiple high-strikeout hitters will make it much easier for the opposing pitcher to record strikeouts
Betting Trends
- Over/Under 7.0 Game Total (-120/+100)The Cleveland Guardians have hit the Game Total Under in 68 of their last 119 games (+16.70 Units / 13% ROI)
- Texas Rangers – Over/Under 1st Five Innings (F5) Team TotalThe Texas Rangers have hit the 1st Five Innings (F5) Team Total Over in 40 of their last 66 away games (+9.90 Units / 12% ROI)
- George Valera – Over/Under 0.5 Runs (+130/-165)George Valera has hit the Runs Over in 4 of his last 5 games (+5.20 Units / 104% ROI)