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In Oakland Athletics VS Los Angeles Angles, two AL West rivals open the 2023 MLB season on the diamond as they play in the city of the bay. The Angels are on the road as they commence a three-game series with the Athletics tonight.

Los Angeles completed the 2022 season 78-89, earning them 3rd position in the AL West, 33 games behind the Astros for the top spot in the division. Oakland was the worst team in the American League last season, posting a 60-102 record, leaving them 46 games off the pace in the division. 

Last season, the Angels has a 12-7 advantage in the season series through the A’s swept a three-game set at home in the October 3-5, 2022 series.

In this preview, MatchPlug analyzes the MLB Predictions Today, picks, and odds for the Athletics VS Angels. 

• Venue: RingCentral Coliseum, Oakland, California
• When: Wednesday, March 30th, 2023
• Time: 19:07 GMT
• Teams to play: Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels
• MLB Expert Picks: SPREAD -1.5

Odds as seen on 1XBet.

• 1XBet Spread: +1.5
• 1XBet Moneyline: 2.072
• 1XBet Over/Under: Over 7.5

The Oakland Athletics were the worst team in the American League last season and there isn’t much hope for them entering the 2023 season either. They traded their best player, catcher Sean Murphy and one of the top pitchers in their squad, Cole Irvin. 

These trades left them with more confusion than clarity as this unending rebuild sputters along.  During the offseason, the Athletics added a few veterans like Aledyms Diaz and Jesus Aguilar to add some boost to their performances. 

Shinto Fujinami and Drew Rucinski were brought in from overseas to bolster the rotation, although Rucinski will begin the year on the IL. Fujinami will pitch every sixth or seventh day to improve his performance after pitching at the WBC in Japan. Oakland added Trevor May to the bullpen but there are more questions than answers for the team.

Kyle Muller was bought by the Athletics in the same deal that sent Murphy to the Atlanta Braves, which also involved Milwaukee Brewers.  He will start tonight’s game for Oakland. Muller made only three starts for the Braves last season, going 1-1 with an 8.03 ERA, a 1.703 WHIP, eight walks and 12 strikeouts over 12.1 innings of work. 

Most of Kyle’s 2022 season was spent with Triple-A Gwinnett of the International League, posting a 6-8 mark with a 3.41 ERA, a 1.81 WHIP, 40 walks and 159 strikeouts over 134.2 innings over 23 starts. In his 13th major league appearance and 12th start, he will be pitching against the Angels for the first time. As the early part of this career was spent in the National League, this marks Muller’s first career outing at the RingCentral Coliseum.

• 1XBet Spread: -1.5
• 1XBet Moneyline: 1.875
• 1XBet Over/Under: Under 7.5

The Los Angeles Angels struggled in the 2022 season as they ended 16 games below .500, which was an unimpressive finish after sitting 27-17 on May 24. They went 46-72 the rest of the year, which was started by a 14-game losing streak, to turn into another dud campaign.

During the offseason, the Angeles made some moves, adding Tyler Anderson (Dodgers) to their rotation while Carlos Estevez and Matt Moore should help the bullpen too. Brandon Drury, Brett Phillips, Hunter Renfroe and Gio Urshela were included in the position player group to give Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani some support.

Fans will soon find out if this addition will work, although it was good seeing owner Arte Moreno spend some money with Ohtani’s free agency happening at the end of the season. As for Ohtani, he’ll be the opening pitcher for the Angels again. He made 28 on-the-hill starts for them, posting a 15-9 mark with a 2.33 ERA, a 1.012 WHIP, 44 walks and 219 strikeouts over 166 innings of work.

For Shohei’s effort, he was 4th in the AL Cy Young voting and finished 2nd behind the Yankees’ Aaron Judge for AL MVP honours. Ohtani will make his 11th career start against the Athletics in this game, having posted good numbers against them. He is 4-4 with a 2.50 ERA, a 0.884 WHIP, 19 walks, and 69 strikeouts over 57.2 innings of action against Oakland. Ohtani is 2-3 with a 3.72 ERA, a 1.035 WHIP, 13 walks, and 30 strikeouts over 29 innings of work in six career starts at the RingCentral Coliseum.

MatchPlug Prediction

While the Athletics and Angels were sub-.500 again last season, the truth remains that the Angels are attempting to make their team competitive. Oakland sold who was arguably their top two players in the offseason, leaving them with many question marks and youths that need to prove themselves. 

Mullers of the Athletics don’t have much of a track record to fall back on at this point at the major league level. Ohtani on the other hand gave an outstanding performance in 2022, on the mound and at the plate. The Angels have a better lineup to work with in terms of offense. 

Ohtani should breeze through the Oakland lineup, a thought which may be pushing it if you call it a Triple-A level squad. The Angels bat should encounter more than enough runs on the board against Muller and his squad to put tonight’s Athletics VS Angels game in a win column.

Prediction: Los Angeles Angels Spread.

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