Angels vs A's Predictions, Picks, Odds: Expect Angels to Start With a Bang

A popular World Series “sleeper” team will begin its 2023 season on the road in Oakland when the Angels do battle with the A’s on Opening Day this evening.

The Halos will send superstar Shohei Ohtani to the hill against an intriguing post-hype prospect who’s making his debut for a new team.

Without further ado, let’s break this matchup down in our free MLB picks and predictions for Angels vs. A’s on March 30.

Angels vs A's odds

Angels vs A's predictions

The Los Angeles Angels have been a disappointment for several years now, despite spending a ton of money in free agency and rostering two of the greatest players in league history. This season offers plenty of hope for change, at long last.

Anthony Rendon hit .500 in spring training play and will be reinstalled as this team’s cleanup hitter after struggling in recent seasons with injuries. Offseason addition Hunter Renfroe is behind him and promises plenty in the power department. The Halos also upgraded in the infield, replacing the likes of Andrew Velasquez and Tyler Wade with Brandon Drury and Gio Urshela over the offseason.

The great thing about this offense, in relation to Thursday’s opener, is that it’s loaded with righties. Shohei Ohtani is the only left-handed bat in the projected lineup, which should open things up against Kyle Muller. While the southpaw was excellent in the Braves system, he’s yet to prove he can pitch at the major-league level.

We can’t really use LA’s numbers from 2022 here given all the turnover, but Ohtani and Mike Trout are both excellent at drawing walks. That’s all to say that Muller, who has struggled with free passes, is not going to have much fun out there on Thursday.

On the other side of this matchup, Ohtani is going to be pitching to an Oakland A’s lineup which kind of looks like a big mess right now, as Jesus Aguilar is their underwhelming cleanup hitter. There’s little to like about this offense, and it’s hard to see Oakland scratching across any runs against Ohtani.

I have been looking at many underdogs on Opening Day, but this isn’t a spot I can get behind. Lay the runs with the Halos. 

My best bet: Angels -1.5 (-120 at bet365)

Angels vs A's moneyline analysis

I actually don’t think this moneyline is quite accurate. You can find the Angels at -208 if you shop around, which implies the Halos should win 67.5% of the time. I’d give this one closer to a 75% edge for Los Angeles, which would put them around -300.

Muller has talent, but he has struggled with walks and hard-hit balls in his brief major league career. The Angels are packed with right-handed power bats and have four players who could hit 30 bombs this season. On top of that, there’s arguably no one in this A’s lineup who would even come close to starting for the Angels.

These two teams couldn’t be any different, so I'm taking the Halos to start out tonight with a big win. 

Angels vs A's Over/Under analysis

With one of the worst lineups in baseball, the Under is always going to be in play. Ohtani pitched to a 2.33 ERA last season and an elite 2.68 xERA, which put him in the top 9% of all pitchers.

In 17 of his starts, he allowed one run or fewer. In 18 2/3 innings against the A’s last season, the right-hander gave up just three runs.

While I'm also not necessarily in love with this Under given the potential landmines in the Angels' offense, I do think there’s a decent chance Muller is able to weather the storm and flirt with a quality start.

Angels vs A's game info

Angels vs A's betting preview

Starting pitchers

Shohei Ohtani (0-0, 0.00 ERA): Ohtani is a candidate for both the MVP and Cy Young Awards this season and owns a 2.96 career ERA. He improved his walk rate from 8.3% to 6.7% last season while increasing his strikeout rate from 29.3% to 33.2%, which put him in the top 6% of the league.

Kyle Muller (0-0, 0.00 ERA): Muller has made an appearance on Baseball Prospectus’ Top 101 prospects in four consecutive seasons, ranking 92nd entering the season. He had a brilliant 3.41 ERA in 134 2/3 innings for the Braves Triple-A affiliate last year but owns just a 5.14 ERA in 49 career innings to this point.

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Over the past calendar year, the A’s are 12-40 in series openers. Find more MLB betting trends for Angels vs. A's

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