The Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Angels will begin a three-game series on Monday night. It's time to continue our MLB odds series and make a Rockies-Angels prediction and pick.
The Rockies are facing their second Los Angeles-based opponent in two days. Colorado is fresh off dropping a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, burying themselves even deeper in the NL West. The Angels, on the other hand, are coming off a series victory against the Minnesota Twins. Both of these teams no longer have any sort of playoff aspirations, but this series should be exciting nonetheless.
Here's how the bookmakers have set the lines for Monday's series opener.
MLB Odds: Rockies-Angels Odds
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)*
Colorado Rockies ML (+134)
Los Angeles Angels ML (-145)
Over 7 1/2 runs (-120)
Under 7 1/2 runs (+100)
Why The Rockies Could Win
Colorado has the privilege of sending ace German Marquez to the mound for Monday night's matchup. Marquez has been the Rockies' best pitcher by a long shot, pitching to the tune of a 3.50 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Those are pretty solid numbers, but Marquez's last seven starts have produced even better stats. Over that span his ERA has dropped all the way down to 2.87, with his WHIP also plummeting to 0.87. Marquez is on a nice little hot streak, and continuing it against the Angels is certainly possible.
It helps that the Angels are a worse offensive team against right-handed pitching. Los Angeles experiences a drop in batting average, OBP, OPS, and slugging percentage against righties, so Marquez clearly has the edge in this matchup.
Why The Angels Could Win
Unfortunately for Colorado, two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani is set to take the mound for the Angels in this contest. Ohtani is in the midst of a truly historic season, dominating from the mound and the batter's box. The Rockies will experience Ohtani's elite pitching firsthand in this game.
Over the course of the season, Ohtani has earned a 3.21 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Those stats improve significantly when he pitches at home, with his ERA dropping all the way down to 1.87 in Angel Stadium. The Rockies are one of the worst offenses in MLB, so Showtime shouldn't have a problem working through the Colorado order.
There are a couple more factors that help Ohtani in this matchup. Besides being one of worst offenses in baseball, the Rockies are also terrible at hitting on the road. They hold a 276 batting average when playing in Coors Field, but that nosedives all the way to .204 when Colorado is on the road. Their OBP, OPS, and slugging percentage all take a similar hit. The Rockies also struggle to hit right-handed pitching, seeing all of their major batting statistics fall when playing a righty.
Final Rockies-Angels Prediction & Pick
This game shouldn't be particularly close. Ohtani has been absolutely dominant at home all season long, and that's not going to change against one of the worst lineups in baseball. Marquez is a great pitcher, but he won't be able to outduel Ohtani. The Angels may not get the bats going early, but they'll score enough runs to win by multiple scores. The under is also a solid pick here.
FINAL PICK: Los Angeles Angels ML (-145)
Follow Us
Subscribe