Kansas City Royals vs New York Yankees Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 04/17/26

The Kansas City Royals enter Friday night’s series opener against the Yankees reeling a bit, as they are currently riding a 4-game losing streak. The main reason for Kansas City’s struggles early on in 2026 is a lack of offense. The Royals rank 26th in total runs, 25th in team batting average and 26th in team OPS so far this season. That isn’t going to cut it, and things won’t get any easier for Bobby Witt Jr. and company when they go up against New York right-hander Cam Schlittler on Friday. The 25-year-old starter is off to a tremendous start this season, as he’s allowed 15 hits and 6 earned runs through 4 starts and 21.2 innings of work. He’s also racked up 30 strikeouts to go along with just a single walk. He should be able to keep the Royals in check.

Kansas City will send Michael Wacha to the mound to oppose Schlittler. He has been impressive as well, as he owns a minuscule 0.43 ERA and 0.71 WHIP through 3 starts and 21.0 innings to start the new campaign. It may be tough to keep that dominance going all season long for the 34-year-old right-hander, but with the way he is rolling right now, the Yankees could have their hands full at the plate. Both teams are coming off high-scoring games in their respective Thursday matchups, but the under is a combined 23-14 for these teams this season. Look for this to be a low-scoring game.

Royals vs Yankees prediction: Under 8.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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