Joralexray Garcia
Get ready for the best baseball league in the world because it’s finally back! On March 30th, brace yourself for an exhilarating Opening Day, and one of the most highly anticipated games is the Angels vs Athletics matchup.
This showdown between two rivals from the American League West Division ended with six wins for the home team last season. Even though the Angels are the top dogs, they know better than to underestimate the Athletics.
Without further ado, JefeBet has got you covered with our expert analysis and predictions for the best MLB games. We’re focused on providing you with the highest quality sports betting content, so here’s our forecast for the Los Angeles Angels vs Oakland Athletics game.
Predictions and Betting Preview for the Angels vs Athletics MLB Regular Season Game 1 on March 30, 2023
- Where: RingCentral Coliseum, Oakland, California
- When: Thursday, April 30, 2023, 10:00 PM E.T.
Betting on Los Angeles Angels
- Regular 2023 Season Record: 0-0
If there’s one team that has been disappointing time and time again in recent years, it’s the Los Angeles Angels. Despite having Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, who many believe are the two best players in MLB, they haven’t made it to the postseason since 2014.
With Ohtani becoming a free agent in 2024, the Angels know they need to have a great season to convince the extraordinary 28-year-old Japanese player to stay in Los Angeles. He will surely have many offers on the table, especially after his outstanding performance in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where he was crowned champion.
That’s probably what motivated the Angels front office to bring in good offensive names like Hunter Renfroe, Brandon Drury, and Gio Urshela, as well as arms that will help the bullpen like Tyler Anderson and Carlos Estevez.
For the first game of this inaugural series, the visiting team will have Ohtani on the mound, who last season posted a 15-9 record with an ERA of 2.33 in 166.0 innings pitched and will be in high spirits after closing out the final game of the World Classic against the United States.
Starting Pitcher: Shohei Ohtani (0-0, 0.00 EFE).
Betting on the Oakland Athletics
- Regular 2023 Season Record: 0-0
The Oakland Athletics’ reconstruction has been going on for quite a few seasons now, and it looks like it will continue for a while longer. They didn’t make any major changes to their roster compared to last season, and are likely to finish once again at the bottom of a much more competitive West Division.
The Athletics’ rotation may be their strong point, with some good names like James Kaprielian, Paul Blackburn, and Kyle Muller. Their bullpen has also been reinforced with the addition of veteran closer Jeurys Familia. However, it remains to be seen if they can be consistent enough to withstand a long season.
On the other hand, the offense has added Venezuelan Jesús Aguilar, who batted just .235 with 16 home runs and 41 RBIs with the Miami Marlins and the Baltimore Orioles in the previous season.So, it is expected that Oakland will be one of the worst teams in the league once again in terms of attack.
Young Kyle Muller, who came from the Atlanta Braves, will have the honor of pitching on his first Opening Day of his career. He hopes that this season will be a successful one for him after leaving an ERA of 5.14 in 49.0 innings pitched in his first two years in the MLB.
Starting Pitcher: Kyle Muller (0-0, 0.00 EFE).
JefeBet Prediction
The Oakland Athletics are one of the weakest teams in all of Major League Baseball, with a very poor offense that will have an almost impossible mission to hurt an in-form Ohtani, who will want to start the season with a bang.
Also, Muller doesn’t generate much confidence on the mound either, and being a pitcher who generally allows himself to connect, players like Trout, Jared Walsh, Hunter Renfroe, and Ohtani himself will know how to do a lot of damage to him.
The World Classic helped many players get in tune, so we expect Trout and Ohtani to get the year off to a great start and lead the Los Angeles Angels to a comfortable victory.
Prediction: Los Angeles Angels runline (LAA 8-2 OAK).
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