Is Seth Lugo and the Kansas City Royals a Good Bet Today?

Seth Lugo was 9-2 with a 2.36 ERA following another lackluster performance against the New York Yankees on Monday June 10.

June 15 @ LA Dodgers

Lugo is set to start for the Kansas City Royals on Saturday July 15 against the LA Dodgers and presents an excellent opportunity following two lousy starts.

One thing we look for here at Gambling911.com is an ace pitcher who is coming off a poor start, and even more so, an ace pitcher who does not have a win over his last two starts.

That's Lugo.

We fully anticipated Lugo to have a strong but challenging start against one of the best teams in Major League Baseball, the New York Yankees.  It was neither.

Fantasy Impact:

"Seth Lugo allowed four earned runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out four over seven innings in Monday's loss. Despite this hiccup, Lugo's season has been strong, boasting a 2.36 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP over 14 starts. His performance in this game, while not disastrous, did show some cracks that could be concerning if they turn into a trend. However, given his solid overall numbers and the ability to maintain a low WHIP and ERA, Lugo remains a viable option in most fantasy formats." - Fantasy Pros

Prior to this start, Lugo allowed five runs on six hits in six innings in a no-decision against the Cleveland Guardians.

But on May 29 Lugo was able to hold the Minnesota Twins to just one earned run across six solid innings.

The LA Dodgers is certainly a club that one should consider betting at this time, but they're not as invincible as one might have expected coming into this season.  The Dodgers are winning 60% of their games as of June 11.  Still, they are 6-3 thus far against American League teams, and much of that success has been on the road. KC did go 2-1 versus LA last season. 

Lugo will need to go deep to earn the win here, we believe.

He has not performed great versus this Dodgers lineup either.  In 65 at bats, these Dodgers have 15 RBIs and three home runs against Lugo. Mookie Betts have 4 RBIs against him in four appearances.  This includes a home run.  Will Smith at .288 has another of the homers.  This might be where the threat ends, however.  Jason Heyward is 3-for-9 versus Lugo but just .230 on the season.  The third home run was courtesy of Chris Taylor, who is pretty much MIA this season for the Dodgers where scoring is concerned.

Tyler Glasnow is set to start for the Dodgers.  On paper at least, Lugo is the better pitcher.  Glasnow is 6-5 with a 3.24 ERA. 

He does not have a win since May 4 and his last start resulted in 5 runs given up to the Yankees resulting in a loss.

Glasnow permitted just one run in his prior start against the Pirates, pitching six solid innings.  He allowed just two runs over seven innings versus the Mets on May 28.  

Do keep in mind that five of the last six games in this series over the last two years have gone Over 9 runs.  KC is a much improved offensive team.

We're still leaning on the Under and Lugo here, though a final review will be warranted.  Ideally we would like Glasnow to be coming off a win or pair of solid starts to definitively pull the trigger on Lugo and the Royals.  The Dodgers do have one of the better bullpens right now.