The Los Angeles will host the New York Yankees over the weekend with a nationally televised game on Saturday night. These two teams are nearly even based on record and both will be looking to make a statement. For the Angels, they’ll try and show they can win at home after since their 11-2 road record is the main reason for their early success while the Bronx Bombers will see if their powerful offense can bomb anywhere outside of the Big Apple. A pitching matchup of two talented wildcards in Masahiro Tanaka and Garrett Richards brings added intrigue.
First pitch for the game between the Yankees and Angels is scheduled for Saturday, April 28, 2018, at 9:07 p.m. ET at Angels Stadium. The matchup will be shown on Fox Sports 1.
You can bet on MLB odds at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
Odds Analysis
A six-game winning streak has the Yankees back well over-.500 and amongst the best teams in the AL. They’re record is in line with the Angels’ now despite the narrative for these two teams being very different through the first few weeks.
Despite the difference, when focusing on offense, both teams can hit. The Yankees are first in baseball in runs scored, plating 142 thanks largely to 38 long balls. The Angels are sixth in baseball in runs scored, but second in homers behind none other than the Yankees.
It’s easy to focus on Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez for the Yankees. Those are the guys with the size and the power, at least traditionally. Stanton and Judge were the top two home run hitters last year and Sanchez has already hit 58 career home runs and hasn’t even gotten 800 official at bats.
Pitchers should be afraid of the middle of the Yankee order because of those guys, but the real star of this offense both in the 2017 postseason and the early part of 2018 has been Didi Gregorius. A lefty to help break up the right-handed power, Gregorius has mashed with a .372/.470/.833 slash line. He’s tops on the team in homers with nine and RBIs with 29.
To accompany the established—albeit still young—hitters already mentioned, the Yankees also have both Miguel Andujar and Gleybar Torres up with the big club. Andujar has massed since his promotion while Torres hopes to provide more production at second after Tyler Wade and Neil Walker both got off to slow starts.
On the Angels’ side, Andrelton Simmons—like Gregorius—continues to show he’s more than a good glove. With a 143 OPS+ and .313 average, Simmons has proven to be a nice complement player to Mike Trout. Trout and Shohei Ohtani are the big hitters early
Albert Pujols is also hitting well. He’s not getting on base, but is at least a threat to put runs on the board when men are on base.
Probable Pitchers
When he’s been healthy in his career, Garrett Richards has pitched like an ace. The 29-year-old is younger than his age based on experience after throwing no more than six innings in a season since 2015. He’ll get his sixth start of 2018 on Saturday and Los Angeles is praying he makes it through.
Perhaps the Angels’ most important pitcher, Richards is 3-0 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.308 WHIP through his first 26 innings of work. He’s been given the opportunity to go deep in games, yet, but should be able to at least give the Angels five or six solid frames.
He’s 0-3 with a 6.65 ERA in 21.2 career innings against the Yankees. That’s a bummer, but not a large enough sample size to rely on. The most important thing at his point is his health and all signs are go there.
Richards is also coming off his longest and best start of the season, holding the Giants to a pair of runs on five hits in six innings. He struck out 11 San Francisco hitters in the effort and threw 104 pitches. He’ll be capped at around 100 again on Saturday.
Facing Richards is a 29-year old injury risk for the Yankees in Masahiro Tanaka. Tanaka’s done well staying on the field in his career, but the partial tear in his elbow makes it question whether he’ll stay healthy inning-to-inning and even pitch-to-pitch. So far, so good.
Rather than health, consistency and effectiveness have the bigger issues the last couple years. The 2017 season was a challenging one for Tanaka who saw his ERA end at 4.74, more than a run higher than his previous career worst. He’s 3-2 with a 4.97 ERA in five starts in 2018.
Tanaka’s first and last start were both good, giving up a run in each with at least six innings in both. The middle three, however, saw the righty give up 14 earned runs in 16.1 innings. That’s not good enough against a strong team like the Angels. Which Tanaka are we going to see?
Live Betting
On paper, the Yankees are supposed to have the best bullpen in baseball. From Aroldis Chapman to David Robertson to Chad Green, Dellin Betances, Tommy Kahnle, Adam Warren and a slew of others, the Yankees have deep depth in the pen.
When you start breaking it down, however, the pen isn’t quite as strong as the perception.
Betances, for one, has been a mess. He’s relegated to low-leverage situations and seems to be as unsure where the ball is going out of his hand as the batter. In some cases, the batters seem to be far more in tune with where the ball will end up.
Robertson has been okay and Chad Green looks good, but Kahnle is on the DL along with Warren.
It’s never comfortable facing Robertson, Green and Chapman in the latter innings, but this is not an impenetrable unit, just a really tough one.
Speaking of tough, the Angels’ pen has been just that, too. Keynan Middleton has taken off with the closer’s role and is producing. Jim Johnson, Cam Bedrosian, Blake Park and Noe Ramirez are all good options as is Jose Alvarez who has allowed just one run—on a solo bomb—in 11 frames.
MLB Pick
The Yankees’ offense is starting to pick things up and Tanaka’s had great success in his career against the Angels.
While Richards is a good pitcher, look for the Yankees to get to him. He’s struggled against them in his career, with a 6.65 ERA and 0-3 record against them.
New York will get a few early runs with a homer or two from the big boppers in the middle. From there, the Yankees have the options in the bullpen to close this one out.
As for the Angels, their offense is always a threat, too. They’ll get a few against Tanaka, but overall, he’ll pitch well enough to get the win.
MLB Odds: Yankees 6, Angels 4
Load your betting bankroll from your smartphone with BookMaker’s new cashier feature! Depositing and withdrawing funds from your account has never been easier. BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today!
