The Athletics make the trip to Philadelphia to face the Phillies! These two teams are complete opposites this season with the Phillies being one of the best teams in the MLB. On the other side, the Athletics are one of the worst teams in the MLB. Our MLB odds series has our Athletics-Phillies prediction, odds, and pick for Saturday.

Athletics-Phillies Projected Starters 

Mitch Spence vs. Tyler Phillips

Mitch Spence (5-5) with a 4.29 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP

Last Start: Pitched six innings and gave up five runs on seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts in an Athletics loss.

2024 Road Splits: (2-2) 4.80 ERA

Tyler Phillips (0-0) with a 2.25 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP

Last Appearance: Pitched four innings and gave up one run on three hits with zero walks and seven strikeouts in a Phillies loss.

2024 Home Splits: (0-0) 0.00 ERA

Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Athletics-Phillies Odds

Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (-126)

Moneyline: +160

Philadelphia Phillies: -1.5 (+109)

Moneyline: -190

Over: 9.5 (+100)

Under: 9.5 (-122)

How to Watch Athletics vs. Phillies

Time: 4:05 pm ET

TV: NBC Sports California

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Athletics Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Athletics have struggled this season to a 35-60 record. They have lost three out of their last four games. The Athletics have struggled behind the plate and their pitching has not been much better, still ranking near the bottom of the MLB. JJ Bleday, Abraham Toro, Shea Langeliers, and Brent Rooker stand out despite the offense struggling. On the mound, JP Sears and Mitch Spence have been decent despite the staff working on the mound. The Athletics have been awful and are on track to being just as bad as last season.

The Athletics are starting Mitch Spence on the mound and he has a 5-5 record, a 4.29 ERA, and a 1.26 WHIP. He has allowed 40 runs on 82 hits with 18 walks and 66 strikeouts through 79.2 innings this season. In the 21 games he has appeared in this season in both relief and as a starter the Athletics are 7-14. He has been solid at times as a starter on the mound. He gets a massive challenge against the Phillies and how well they have played behind the plate.

The offense for the Athletics has been awful and is the third-worst in the MLB this season. They are 28th in the MLB in team batting average at .224 after finishing at .222 last season which was the worst in the MLB. Brent Rooker leads the team in most batting categories. Rooker leads in batting average at .279, in home runs at 18, in RBI at 55, in OBP at .361, and in total hits at 81. The Phillies are starting Tyler Phillips, in his first start after playing in one game previously this year in the bullpen. There is a lot of uncertainty, so it might work in the Athletics' favor.

Why The Phillies Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Phillies are one of the best teams in the MLB and currently have a 61-32 record. They are on a three-game winning streak leading into this series. The offense is the third-best in the MLB, while their pitching is the best in the MLB. On offense, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, JT Realmuto, Bryce Harper, Brandon Marsh, Nick Castellanos, and Alec Bohm have been the big standouts on a great offense. The pitching of Ranger Suarez, Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez, and Spencer Turnbull have made up one great pitching staff. The Phillies have been a force this season and have shown no signs of slowing down even with their latest slump.

The Phillies are starting Tyler Phillips on the mound where he has a 0-0 record, a 2.25 ERA, and a 0.75 WHIP. He has allowed one run on three hits with zero walks and seven strikeouts through four innings this season in the one game he has appeared. The Phillies lost the one appearance he has appeared in. Phillips is solid in the bullpen and for his first start this season he gets a favorable matchup against a struggling offense as much as the Phillies.

The offense for the Phillies has been one of the best this season. The Phillies are third in the MLB in team batting average at .260 after finishing last season at .256. Alec Bohm and Bryce Harper lead the way for the Phillies behind the plate in most of the batting categories. Harper leads in batting average at .298, in home runs at 20, and in OBP at .394. Then, Bohm leads in RBI at 70 and total hits at 103. This offense gets an interesting matchup against Spence because he has been solid, but struggled with consistency.

Final Athletics-Phillies Prediction & Pick

The Athletics have been terrible this season, while the Phillies have been great. Spence has the pitching advantage over Phillips because it's his first start. The Phillies have a massive offensive advantage over the Athletics. Still, the difference is pitching with Spence and I think the Athletics should cover this spread and keep it close, even if the Phillies still win outright at home.

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Final Athletics-Phillies Prediction & Pick: Athletics +1.5 (-126)