The Los Angeles Angels and the Minnesota Twins will begin a four-game series on Thursday night. It's time to continue our MLB odds series and make an Angels-Twins prediction and pick.
Both of these teams have been on a bit of a cold streak. The Twins have lost five of their last seven contests while the Angels have dropped seven of their last ten. The Twins seem ready to punt on their disappointing season, as they will enter the trade deadline as sellers. The Angels won't be selling at the deadline, but their playoff hopes are all but gone. Regardless of the implications of this game (or lack thereof), this should be a competitive contest.
Here's how the bookmakers have set the odds for Thursday's series opener.
MLB Odds: Angels-Twins Odds
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Los Angeles Angels ML (+133)
Minnesota Twins ML (-144)
Over 9 1/2 runs (+100)
Under 9 1/2 runs (-120)
Why The Angels Could Cover The Spread
The Angels are quietly one of the best offenses in the MLB. They rank in the top seven in the league in batting average, OPS, and slugging percentage. Los Angeles also ranks seventh in the league in home runs hit, spearheaded by two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani. None of this is good news for Minnesota starter Kenta Maeda.
Maeda has been shaky all season. He owns an ERA of 4.71 and a WHIP of 1.36. Both are bad numbers that expose a number of other flaws in Maeda's game. The righty struggles with controlling, often walking multiple batters per game. Maeda also struggles to go deep into ball games, usually going four or five innings at the most before getting pulled. The Angels should be able to exploit all of these weaknesses for some early runs.
Why The Twins Could Cover The Spread
Minnesota has a lot in common with the Angels. The Twins are another underrated offensive team, ranking in the top ten in home runs hit, slugging percentage, and OPS. They don't have an Ohtani equivalent, but Minnesota's bats are still deadly. Los Angeles starter Andrew Heaney will likely learn that the hard way in this contest.
Heaney has struggled mightily on the season so far. He owns a 5.56 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP on the year, but the numbers from his last seven starts have been even worse. Heaney's ERA rises to 5.94 in that span, a number that is far from respectable.
To make matters worse for Heaney, Minnesota is a terrible matchup for him. The Twins hit left-handed pitching significantly better than they do right-handed pitching, having their batting average rise from .238 to .256. Heaney is also prone to giving up plenty of home runs, which is the opposite of what you want against the Twins. Overall, Minnesota's bats should dominate this game.
Final Angels-Twins Prediction & Pick
With both teams being so strong offensively, it's just too hard to stay away from the over. The Angels should be able to tag Maeda enough to have him out of the game by the fifth inning. The Twins should also have an absolute field day hitting off of Heaney, so this over/under could be broken by the sixth or seventh inning.
FINAL PICK: Over 9 1/2 runs (+100)
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