The Los Angeles Angels will take on the Oakland Athletics on Friday night. It's time to continue our MLB odds series and make an Angels-Athletics prediction and pick.
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The Angels have far exceeded the preseason expectations that were set for them, at least so far. Los Angeles has earned a 21-12 record, including impressive series wins over the Houston Astros and the Boston Red Sox. The Athletics, on the other hand, haven't had nearly as much success. To no one's surprise, Oakland is 14-19, a record that has them occupying the cellar in the division. Regardless of the records at play, this should be an entertaining matchup. Let's cut to the chase and get into the pick.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Angels-Athletics MLB odds.
MLB Odds: Angels-Athletics Odds
Los Angeles Angels ML: -146
Oakland Athletics ML: +124
Over: 8 (-105)
Under: 8 (-115)
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Why The Angels Could Cover the Spread
The Athletics will send out Daulton Jeffries to make the start on Friday night. That's something that has typically worked out pretty poorly for Oakland. Jefferies is the owner of a 5.22 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP, some pretty bad numbers. His last three starts have been downright awful, as he's allowed 15 runs over his last 14 innings of work. Now, Jefferies will have to face an Angels offense that has been elite. Los Angeles ranks inside the top ten in the MLB in batting average, OBP, OPS, and slugging percentage. They've also scored five or more runs in three of their last four contests. It's fair to expect Jefferies to struggle tremendously in this outing.
Oakland's offense has been the complete opposite of the Angels'. The Athletics rank inside the bottom five in the league in nearly every single important offensive statistic, including a dead-last ranking in OBP and OPS. There's only two hitters in Oakland's lineup that own a batting average higher than .250. This is a bad offensive team, and it will likely remain that way in this game.
Why The Athletics Could Cover the Spread
While it's true that the Athletics aren't any good on offense, they don't exactly have a tough matchup in this game. The Angels will count on 21 year-old starter Chase Silseth here. Silseth is an unknown at the MLB level, as this is his first big-league start. He pitched nicely in AA to start the 2022 season, but it's a steep step up in competition from AA baseball to the MLB. It's fair to expect Silseth to struggle in his debut, even against this bad Oakland offense.
Home field advantage is one of the few advantages the Athletics have in this game. The Angels have been slightly worse offensively when playing on the road, earning a lower batting average, OPS, and slugging percentage when away from Angel Stadium. Jefferies has also pitched better in RingCentral Coliseum, earning a better ERA and WHIP on his home turf. There's a chance that playing on their home field is enough to propel the Athletics to an upset win.
Final Angels-Athletics Prediction & Pick
The Angels should win this game, but their money line isn't all that appealing. Instead, the over is the best pick on the board. Los Angeles should light up Jefferies, and it would be surprising to see Silseth pitch well in his debut.
Final Angels-Athletics Prediction & Pick: Over: 8 (-105)
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