It's Opening Day and the Los Angeles Angels will face the Oakland Athletics! Swing the baseball with us as we share our MLB odds series, make an Angels-Athletics prediction and pick while showing you how to watch.
The Angels are coming off a season where they finished third in the AL West. Now, they look to improve their performance and end a seven-year drought. The Halos brought in some new talent to hope potentially end the drought. Significantly, they signed Carlos Estevez as their potential new closer. Estevez hurls a 98-MPH fastball and held hitters to a .190 batting average at Coors Field. Ultimately, the Angels hope he continues his dominance. The Angels also signed Brandon Drury, Gio Urshela, and Tyler Anderson while also trading for Hunter Renfroe. Likewise, the Angels bring back Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Taylor Ward, and Anthony Rendon.
The Athletics were last in the AL West. Unfortunately, the rebuild continues, and they expect more pain this season. The Athletics traded Sean Murphy to the Atlanta Braves. Also, they brought in Trevor May, Aledmys Diaz, and Jace Peterson. The A's also will bring back Seth Brown, who was their only consistent power hitter in 2022. Somehow, no one else hit more than 13 home runs or drove in more than 75 RBIs for Oakland, highlighting their offensive woes.
The Angels went 73-89. Furthermore, they went 33-48 on the road. The Athletics went 60-102. Also, they went 29-51 at Oakland Coliseum. The Angels went 12-7 against the Athletics in 2022 and 6-4 in Oakland. Amazingly, it was the first winning season for the Angels against the Athletics since 2018 and the first time they have had a winning record in Oakland since 2016.
Here are the Angels-Athletics MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Angels-Athletics Odds
Los Angeles Angels: -1.5 (-118)
Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (+100)
Over: 7 (-115)
Under: 7 (-105)
How To Watch Angels vs. Athletics
TV: MLBN
Stream: MLB
Time: 10 PM ET/7 PM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Angels Could Cover The Spread
Ohtani takes the mound for the Angels and is one of the best players in baseball. Now, he takes the hill and looks to get the Angels off to the best start. Ohtani has one of the best changeup/splitters in the game today. Likewise, he produced a 69.3 percent contact rate in the MLB in 2022, which was the fourth-lowest in baseball. Ohtani's slider provided a weighted-pitch value of 23.5, which was the second in baseball. Furthermore, his slider also delivered a horizontal value of 7.5, which was second in baseball. Ohtani registered a 119.1 MPH exit velocity level, which was third in baseball. Therefore, it is safe to say he is the complete player.
Trout is back and hopes to have a complete season. Significantly, he produced a weighted on-base average of .418, which was fourth in baseball. Trout also delivered a weighted runs-created-plus stat of 176, which was fourth in the majors. Likewise, Trout produced 11 at-bats per home run.
Aside from Trout and Ohtani, the Angels hope Ward keeps his momentum going. Ultimately, he may lead off. Trout, Ohtani, and Rendon will follow in the order. Then, Renfroe likely slots in as the fifth hitter. The Angels were the best-hitting team in baseball in April last season before the wheels fell off. Can they consistently hit the baseball?
The Angels will cover the spread if Ohtani can throw six solid innings. Then, the Angels need their hitters to produce at the plate.
Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread
The A's will likely go with Kyle Muller, who is making his first career start. Sadly, Paul Blackburn is not available because of a torn fingernail. Muller has pitched in 12 career games, or 49 innings, with a 5.14 ERA.
Tony Kemp likely leads off for the A's. Then, Diaz will hit second. Brown is the only power hitter in the lineup and will hit third. However, the rest is interchangeable. Who will hit for the Athletics? Can any of them solve Ohtani? Those two questions will come around in the evening as they face Ohtani's difficult slider. The Athletics also must understand how to get Ohtani out at the plate.
The Athletics will cover the spread if Muller can throw five solid innings. Then, they must make Ohtani work for his outs.
Final Angels-Athletics Prediction & Pick
The Angels are not a great team. However, they are better than the Athletics and Ohtani is an elite pitcher. Expect Ohtani to deliver on the mound to start the year. Moreover, his arm is still fresh and he is ready to go after the World Baseball Classic.
Final Angels-Athletics Prediction & Pick: Los Angeles Angels: -1.5 (-118)
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