The Detroit Tigers (11-8) host the Kansas City Royals (8-12) on Friday night. First pitch from Comerica Park is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET; the game will be broadcast on MLB.TV.
Game 2 of a four-game set between AL Central rivals Detroit and Kansas City features a very compelling starting pitching matchup, as highly-touted prospect Jackson Jobe will face off against potential Cy Young candidate Cole Ragans.
Find my MLB betting preview for this game and my Royals vs Tigers prediction for Friday below.
Royals vs Tigers Prediction, Prop Pick
- Royals vs Tigers pick:Jackson Jobe Over 3.5 Strikeouts -118 at FanDuel (Play to -123)
My Royals vs Tigers best bet is Jackson Jobe over 3.5 strikeouts. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live MLB odds page.
Royals vs Tigers Odds, Lines
| Royals Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 +125 | 7.5 -118 / -102 | -145 |
| Tigers Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -155 | 7.5 -118 / -102 | +120 |
Royals vs Tigers Projected Starting Pitchers
| LHP Cole Ragans (KC) | Stat | RHP Jackson Jobe (DET) |
|---|---|---|
| 1-0 | W-L | 1-0 |
| 1.1 | fWAR (FanGraphs) | 0.0 |
| 2.28 / 1.76 | ERA /xERA | 3.00 / 4.56 |
| 1.31 / 2.28 | FIP / xFIP | 5.13 / 4.93 |
| 0.93 | WHIP | 1.13 |
| 32.3 | K-BB% | 1.7 |
| 39.6 | GB% | 45.2 |
| 110 | Stuff+ | 112 |
| 104 | Location+ | 93 |
Nick Martin’s Royals vs Tigers Preview
Royals Betting Preview: Ragans' Strong Start
Ragans lived up to his lofty preseason expectations in 2024, as he ultimately finished in the AL Cy Young vote after posting a 3.14 ERA across 186 1/3 innings of work.
He's currently priced as the third favorite to win the AL Cy Young award this season, having allowed an ERA of only 2.23 across his first 23 2/3 innings pitched.
After a heartbreaking finish for those of us who bet on Ragans to lead the league in strikeouts last season, he's struck out batters at an even higher rate in 2025, with a 12.93 K/9 rate in his first four starts.
His Pitching+ rating is up to 111 compared to last year's mark of 110, and all indications show he should continue to be one of baseball's top starters.
The Royals enter this matchup in the midst of a four-game losing skid, having scored only seven runs combined in those games. Their offense has struggled early on, as they hold the league's worst wRC+ (65) and have slugged just .304 as a team.
As you might expect, they do hold one of the league's lowest BABIPs currently, with an average of just .255.
The Royals have offered more respectable results versus left-handed pitching, but have still not been overly effective, with a wRC+ of 92 and a BB/K ratio of 0.37.
Tigers Betting Preview: Will Jobe Find Rhythm?
After an unconvincing outing in his first start of the season versus the Seattle Mariners, Jobe has stabilized with two higher-quality outings versus the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins.
He had the best start of his young career last time out versus the Twins, allowing just two hits and zero earned runs across six innings of work.
While Jobe has benefitted from a very soft schedule — matching up against the Mariners, White Sox and Twins — his underlying results are still not overly convincing. He holds an xFIP of 4.93 and an xERA of 4.56.
Though the underlying metrics suggest Jobe hasn't been overly effective despite his 3.00 ERA, the fact that his electric stuff looked more true to form in his last outing is highly encouraging.
Jobe held a Stuff+ rating of 118 versus Minnesota and a Pitching+ rating of 105.
Jobe struck out 9.9 batters per nine last season in Double-A and entered the year rated as the fourth-best prospect by Baseball Prospectus.
Generating swing-and-misses at the big league level is obviously far more difficult, but he has the stuff to strike out batters at a higher rate than we've seen so far.
Royals vs Tigers Prediction, Betting Analysis
As a fan of baseball, I'm very interested to see how Jobe's next few outings go. There are certainly some negative indicators regarding his work early on this season, but his outing versus Minnesota suggests the possibility that he could find himself.
While the Royals are arguably the best lineup Jobe has faced so far this season, it's still a better-than-average matchup for the extremely talented rookie to continue finding his footing at the big-league level.
He's struck out just 4.80 batters per nine this season — which certainly doesn't scream bet the over on his strikeout prop — but he has the stuff to start generating strikeouts at a higher rate moving forward. This could be a good time to buy-low in a fairly soft matchup.
At -123 or better, I see value in backing Jobe to record over 3.5 strikeouts in this matchup.
Pick: Jackson Jobe Over 3.5 Strikeouts -118 at FanDuel (Play to -123)
Moneyline
The prices on sides look fair to me in this matchup, as the Royals have struggled offensively this season but still appear worthy of being a -140 favorite with Ragans starting.
Run Line (Spread)
I see no value backing either team to cover the run line.
Over/Under
A total of 7.5 looks fair to me in this matchup.
