MLB Best Bet: Time for Shohei Ohtani and the Angels to Make a Statement

The AL MVP favorite is on the mound in Detroit Thursday and the matchup looks good.

It’s Sho-time.

It turns out the Angels will not be sellers at the trade deadline. Instead, they are buyers -- acquiring starting pitcher Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo Lopez from the White Sox Wednesday night.

And that means Shohei Ohtani isn’t going anywhere.

Ohtani will continue his bid for the AL MVP as he takes the mound vs. the Tigers Thursday.

Usually, I give a lot of stats as to why I like a certain bet. I could cite the fact that Ohtani has a strikeout rate in the top 7% of the league while the Tigers have the ninth-highest strikeout rate, in the league (23.8%). I could mention Ohtani’s 3.71 ERA, and I could mention that Ohtani leads the majors with 36 home runs. I could also mention that Ohtani has not been pitching well since the All-Star break, but none of this really matters.

We are betting on the Angels to cover the run line because they need to make a statement today. They have the best player in baseball and the front office just made moves to keep them in the playoff hunt. The Angels must deliver.

The Halos remain seven games out of first place in the AL West and four games out of a wild card berth. They absolutely cannot afford to lose to a Detroit team that is 46-55 and scoring a mere 3.93 runs per game this season.

Michael Lorenzen gets the start for Detroit, and though he has a 3.49 ERA, he has been very uneven. Statcast suggests his ERA should be closer to 4.22, and he’s allowing plenty of hard contact while striking out fewer than seven batters per nine. This Angels team that is scoring 5.02 runs per game this season (sixth) should be able to get in their knocks.

We’ll bet the Angels win big enough to cover the run line at plus money.

The Bet: Angels -1.5 (+115)

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