The Oakland Athletics will take on the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night. It's time to continue our MLB odds series and make an Athletics-Angels prediction and pick.
Unfortunately, Oakland's season has gone just about how everyone expected. They have the second-lowest payroll in the MLB, and it's showing in their performance. The Athletics are 16-24, a record that has them in the cellar of the AL West. Meanwhile, the Angels are enjoying the best start to one of their seasons in recent memory. Los Angeles is 24-16, the second-best record in the division. They only trail the Houston Astros by a game and a half, so every game is hugely important. This series is a good chance for the Angels to gain some ground in what will be a tight divisional race until the end of the season.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Athletics-Angels MLB odds.
MLB Odds: Athletics-Angels Odds
Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (-130)
Los Angeles Angels: -1.5 (+108)
Over: 7.5 (-115)
Under: 7.5 (-105)
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Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread
The Athletics will put one of their better starters on the mound here. Righty Paul Blackburn has been one of the few bright spots for Oakland. He's posted an elite 1.67 ERA and a .90 WHIP over seven starts. His last start came against the Angels, and it went pretty well. Blackburn pitched nearly seven innings of one-run baseball on the way to a no-decision. The venue of this game will also help Blackburn. He's been one of the best road pitchers in the entire MLB, as he's posted a .83 ERA and a .78 in three road starts. There's good reason to believe that Blackburn will put together another strong outing in this game.
Los Angeles doesn't have the same quality of pitcher starting this game. They'll count on Chase Silseth to make his second career start. While his first appearance did go well, there's absolutely no guarantee that he's able to replicate that performance. Silseth was pitching in AA at the start of the season, so it's fair to doubt that he can put together two good performances in the big leagues right away.
Why The Angels Could Cover The Spread
While it's true that Silseth is only making his second career start, his first one went pretty well, and it came against the Athletics. The rookie pitched six innings of one-hit baseball, earning himself a win in his first ever appearance. The fact that Oakland is one of the worst offensive teams in the MLB certainly helped Silseth. The Athletics rank dead last in batting average, slugging percentage, OBP, and OPS. They also struggle against right-handed pitching, as they hit .203 against righties while earning similarly terrible batting stats across the board. It's unlikely that this lineup presents much of a challenge to Silseth, as they don't present much of a challenge to anyone.
The Angels should benefit from playing on their home turf. Los Angeles has been a better offensive team when they play in Angel Stadium, earning better numbers in almost every single major batting category. They've also gone 12-7 when defending their home turf, making it clear that playing in Anaheim is a big benefit to them.
Final Athletics-Angels Prediction & Pick
Neither side of the spread looks particularly appealing here. Instead, the under is the best pick on the board. Blackburn has been elite this season, and that shouldn't change here. The Athletics are also completely terrible on offense, so Silseth shouldn't have that much trouble putting a stop to them.
Final Athletics-Angels Prediction & Pick: Under: 7.5 (-105)
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