Houston Astros vs Tampa Bay Rays Picks and Predictions August 2nd 2024

At 8:10 PM ET, the Astros and Rays will face off in an AL matchup. This one is taking place at Minute Maid Park in Houston and has the Astros as the heavy favorites on the money line (-161). The money line odds for a Rays win are sitting at +137, and they are 4th in the AL East with a record of 55-53. The Astros are 1st in the AL West at 56-52.

Friday’s forecast in Houston calls for thunderstorms, with the temperature sitting in the low 90s. Shane Baz gets the start for the Rays, and he will be facing off against Yusei Kikuchi. The over/under line is currently at 8 runs.

Tampa Bay vs. Houston Key Information

Shane Baz is getting the start for the Rays on the road against the Astros. He has made 3 starts so far this season, and has yet to pick up a win. In his last outing, he went 6 innings and gave up 2 earned runs on 2 hits and 2 walks. He has 13 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings this season.

Heading into today’s game, the Rays are averaging just 4 runs per game, which is 27th in the league. They have been even worse at home, averaging just 3.7 runs per game. As a team, they are batting just .234, and their team slugging percentage of .375 is also near the bottom of the league.

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Christopher Morel has been a big power threat for the Rays this season, as his 20 home runs are 11th in the league. However, he is batting just .200 this season and has gone 2/8 in his last two games. Yandy Diaz has been a consistent hitter for the Rays, batting .271 for the season, and Brandon Lowe has been hot of late, going 10/23 in his last seven games.

Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi gets the start for the Astros today as he faces the Rays at home. So far this season, he has made 22 starts and has a record of 4-9 with an ERA of 4.75. Kikuchi’s WHIP for the season is currently 1.34. In his last outing, he finished with a no-decision, giving up five earned runs in 4 2/3 innings of work. Before that, he had gone three straight outings without taking the loss. Kikuchi has a total of eight quality starts this year and is averaging 10.12 strikeouts per nine innings.

Yordan Alvarez has been the Astros’ top power threat this season, as his 20 home runs are 11th in the league and the best mark on the team. Alvarez is also 2nd on the team with 55 RBIs. Catcher Yainer Diaz has been the Astros’ most consistent hitter this season, batting .297 with a team-high 59 RBIs. He has also gone 13/25 in his last six games, with two homers.

Overall, the Astros are the 2nd best hitting team in the league and have been even better at home, averaging 5 runs per game. As a team, they are batting .261 and are among the league leaders in slugging percentage, but they have been a free-swinging team that is 23rd in walks. Houston’s team on-base percentage is .320, which is 9th in the league.

For an over/under pick, our lean is on the over, as this is projected to be the 10th highest-scoring game of the day. As for who is going to take this one straight up, we have the Astros coming out on top. Houston starter Yusei Kikuchi has the 2nd best strikeout projection among today’s starters, and he also has the 5th best innings pitched projection. On the other side, Shane Baz has the 8th worst strikeout projection.

Astros to Display Revamped Pitching Staff Against Rays

The Houston Astros have fundamentally redone their pitching staff with the exchange cutoff time acquisitions of left-handers Yusei Kikuchi and Caleb Ferguson. This prompted the takeoff of two right-handers, Rafael Montero and Seth Martinez, not long before their 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Privateers on Wednesday.

Astros’ Bullpen Changes

With an off day on Thursday, the Astros arranged for a three-game home series against the Tampa Bay Rays beginning on Friday. The patched up warm up area will presently incorporate Ferguson, who was obtained from the New York Yankees at the exchange cutoff time. Both Martinez, who was optioned to Significantly increase A Sugar Land, and Montero, who was assigned for task, won’t be essential for the warm up area. Montero, who marked a three-year, $34.5 million agreement before last season, played a high-leverage job for the 2022 World Series championship support yet battled essentially this season with a 4.94 ERA over his last 109 appearances.

“He realized he was struggling, and he was frustrated,” said Astros general manager Dana Brown. “We’re really trying to lock down our bullpen, and so we felt like this would really help our bullpen. Our guys have been grinding through the whole year, so we wanted to bring in some reinforcements.”

Kikuchi’s Debut

Yusei Kikuchi (4-9, 4.75 ERA) is set to make his Astros debut on Friday. Kikuchi was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays, where he recorded 130 strikeouts over 115 2/3 innings. His strikeout ratio of 10.1 per nine innings this season is the second-best of his career. Kikuchi had a solid start to the season but struggled in his final 11 starts with the Blue Jays, posting a 6.42 ERA.

Kikuchi has a lifelong record of 5-2 with a 3.72 ERA more than 10 appearances (nine beginnings) against the Rays. In his season debut on Walk 30 against the Rays, he permitted three sudden spikes in demand for six hits and three strolls, with four strikeouts north of 4 1/3 innings in a 5-1 misfortune.

Rays’ Beginning Pitcher: Shane Baz

Right-hander Shane Baz (0-1, 3.66 ERA) will begin the series opener for the Rays. Baz didn’t factor into the choice in his last beginning, a 3-2 misfortune to the Cincinnati Reds, where he permitted two sudden spikes in demand for two hits and two strolls with seven strikeouts north of six innings. This was his fourth vocation quality beginning and second of the time. Baz made his season debut on July 5 against the Texas Officers in the wake of missing the 2023 season because of Tommy John medical procedure.
Baz, who was born in Houston and attended high school in Tomball, a northwest suburb, will make his first career start against the Astros.

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Rays’ Recent Performance

The Rays have seen immediate benefits from Christopher Morel, who homered for the second consecutive game in their 6-2 home loss to the Miami Marlins on Wednesday. Morel was acquired from the Chicago Cubs alongside Ty Johnson and Hunter Bigge at the trade deadline in exchange for All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes. Morel has displayed significant power during his two-plus seasons with the Cubs, with a slash line of .228/.303/.439, 60 homers, and 168 RBIs over 323 games.

“You can see how talented he is, how athletic he is,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Two homers in two days; you’re not going to do much better than that.”

Game Outlook

As the Astros showcase their revamped pitching staff against the Rays, all eyes will be on Yusei Kikuchi’s debut and how the new bullpen configuration performs. The Rays, bolstered by the recent addition of Christopher Morel, will look to continue their offensive surge. This series promises to be a competitive clash between two teams adjusting to their recent roster changes.