Orioles vs Royals Head-to-Head Preview and Score Prediction – Wednesday April 22, 2026

Baltimore Orioles

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Kansas City Royals

Baltimore Orioles Insights

• Chris Bassitt – Over/Under 15.5 Pitching Outs (-105/-125)
  Chris Bassitt has been given a longer leash than the typical pitcher since the start of last season, throwing 4.0 more adjusted pitches-per-start than average.
  Explain: Pitchers with a longer leash are more likely to go deeper into games and record more outs.
• Dylan Beavers – Over/Under 0.5 Hits (-145/+115)
  Dylan Beavers is projected to hit 3rd on the lineup card in this game, which would be an upgrade from his 50% rate of hitting in the bottom-half of the lineup this season.
  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.
• Leody Taveras – Over/Under Total Bases
  Leody Taveras has a 92nd percentile opposite-field rate on his flyballs (36%) and will have to hit them out towards the game’s deepest LF fences in today’s game.
  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.

Kansas City Royals Insights

• Michael Wacha – Over/Under 5.5 Strikeouts (+120/-155)
  Michael Wacha has utilized his slider 5.1% less often this season (6.8%) than he did last season (11.9%).
  Explain: Because sliders are one of the most effective pitches to use, a pitcher who alters his pitch mix to use them less often may see less success as a result, particularly if he uses his fastball more instead.
• Kyle Isbel – Over/Under 0.5 Hits (-180/+135)
  Kyle Isbel may have an edge against every reliever for the whole game, since the bullpen of the Baltimore Orioles only has 1 same-handed RP.
  Explain: Hitters perform worse against pitchers of the same handedness (i.e. righty-vs-righty), and being able to avoid those matchups against the bullpen boosts performance and creates hidden edge.
• The Kansas City Royals have been the 3rd-unluckiest offense in the majors this year, according to the leading projection system (THE BAT X), and are likely to hit better going forward
  Explain: When teams underperform their projected talent level, markets may undervalue them even while they are likely to perform better in the near future.