Los Angeles Angels (0-0) vs. Oakland Athletics (0-0)
March 30, 2023 10:07 pm EDT
The Line: Oakland Athletics +175 / Los Angeles Angels -263; Over/Under: +6.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics meet Thursday in MLB action at the Oakland Coliseum. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.
The Los Angeles Angels have two of the best players in baseball in Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, but they’re running out of time to seriously take advantage of it. The Angels improved the lineup by adding Hunter Renfroe, Brandon Drury and Gio Urshela while the pitching staff added Tyler Anderson, Carlos Estevez and Matt Moore. The Angels are sneaky contenders in the AL West, and them being successful would be great for baseball overall. Shohei Ohtani gets the ball, and he was 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts last season. Ohtani is 4-4 with a 2.50 ERA and 69 strikeouts in his career against the Athletics.
The Oakland Athletics have won a combined 146 games the last two years, and they have the worst odds to win the World Series this season. The A’s have nearly an entire new lineup in Aledmys Díaz, Jesús Aguilar, Jace Peterson, Ryan Noda and Esteury Ruiz. The starting staff has two new faces in Kyle Muller and Shintaro Fujinami. The A’s are young and lack serious difference makers at this stage. It’s going to be another long year in the Bay Area. Kyle Muller gets the ball, and he was 1-1 with a 8.03 ERA and 12 strikeouts last season. This will be Muller’s first career game against the Angels.
The Angels are 1-4 in their last 5 road games and 7-3 in their last 10 overall. The Athletics are 4-1 in their last 5 home games and 4-0 in their last 4 overall. The under is 7-2 in Angels last 9 overall. The under is 7-2 in Athletics last 9 overall. The under is 8-3-1 in the last 12 meetings in Oakland and 20-6-2 in the last 28 meetings.
Shohei Ohtani is coming off a great WBC, and you’d think he can build on that momentum against possibly the worst team in baseball. There’s little to get excited about with the Oakland Athletics, and Muller has just 11 career starts, and now he’s starting opening day. If the Angels are going to push for a rare playoff spot, they need to get off to a good start and need to take advantage of games like this. Give me the Angels and the RL for max betting value.
