We have a west coast, twilight start time for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball as Shohei Ohtani show gets some national, primetime air against the Evil Empire. The New York Yankees are back as a powerhouse team and the Los Angeles Angels have both the biggest name in the international arena and the best player in the game, making a very intriguing matchup. With a pair of southpaws on the mound in C.C. Sabathia and Tyler Skaggs, that just adds an extra wrinkle.
First pitch for the game between the Yankees and Angels is scheduled for Sunday, April 29, 2018, at 8:07 p.m. ET at Angels Stadium. The matchup will be shown on ESPN.
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Odds Analysis
The Yankees are surging, winning six straight and eight of ten to get back to second in the AL East and amongst the top five teams in the AL.
New York’s bats are alive and well right now. They’re first in baseball in runs scored and home runs by a sizeable margin given the limited number of games played. The Angels are somewhat close to New York in the home run ball, but not in runs scored.
While both teams depend on the home run, a larger percentage of Angels’ runs come on the homer than the Yankees even though New York has hit more.
If Ohtani gets the start at DH in this game will be worth watching, too. He’s been a spark to the offense, but is slated to take the mound early the following week and Ohtani typically gets the day before a start off to prepare to toe the rubber.
These two teams are both playing well. The Yankees are streaking and the Angels previously took two of three from the Astros, the team that toppled the Yankees in the ALCS last fall.
With both playing well, this game could come down to which team does the little things right like defense or executing out of the pen.
The Yankees’ pen is the better unit with the better names, but you cannot argue that the Angels’ relievers haven’t delivered thus far.
Probable Pitchers
The pitching matchup is essentially the elder statesman against the young, blossoming star.
Skaggs’ name has been around for a while, but injuries have limited his innings. He’s 26-years old and made his Major League debut as a 20-year old, but he’s barely pitched two seasons’ worth of innings combined in those six years.
Since coming over to the Angels, Skaggs has put up a 4.22 ERA when he’s been on the mound. That’s an okay number, but nothing too impressive. More impressive has been his FIP which at 3.87, paints the picture of an unlucky hurler in more ways than just health.
So far in 2018, Skagg has appeared to turn a corner. Of course, he’s put five or six game runs of good starts before, but his 3-1 record and 2.96 ERA are still noteworthy. He’s doing a better job limiting the walks and has also been able to reduce the hard contact. He’s allowed on homer in five games.
This game will be the first for Skaggs against the Yankees. Typically, lake of familiarity between a team and a pitcher favors the hurler. The Yankees have their share of scouting reports and video to prepare to face Skaggs, but they haven’t seen his stuff in the box and that can take an adjustment if the pitcher is making his pitches.
Speaking of making pitches, that’s what C.C. Sabathia has done his whole career. A power pitcher and workhorse in his younger days, Sabathia is generally limited to five or six innings a start now, but with a good Yankee bullpen that’s enough.
He’ll be asked to go two times through the order before Aaron Boone takes the ball.
Sabathia is no longer a power pitcher. Instead, he’s become a finesse lefty. His strikeout rate is down to 5.6 per nine here in his first four starts. That would be a career worst, but he’s been able to keep the walks down and induce weak contact.
In four starts in 2018, Sabathia is 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA in 19.1 innings. In his career against the Angels, he’s 9-9 with a 3.91 ERA in 21 starts.
Live Betting
Sabathia has pitched well against the Angels current roster. He’s holding the lot to a combined .228 average and .286 OBP. Ian Kinsler and Mike Trout each have a pair of home runs against him while Albert Pujols and Justin Upton have taken him yard as well.
The power production against C.C. has been pretty good, but the overall numbers aren’t as stellar. Upton is just 1-for-8 as is Kole Calhoun. Chris Young, a bat brought in specifically for southpaws is just 3-for-20 against Sabathia.
Flipping the script, Skaggs should be a mystery to the Yankees. The only current Yankee he’s faced is Giancarlo Stanton, facing him three time, getting him out twice and walking him once.
When these two teams met last year, the Yankees took four of six, outscoring the Angels by seven runs combined in those six games.
MLB Pick
Skaggs is throwing well right now and coming off his best start of the year, against another fearsome lineup in Houston.
The southpaw took care of business against the Astros in seven. He likely won’t have a shutout again, but could hold the Yankees to a few runs before giving the ball over to a surprisingly strong bullpen.
While Sabathia has proven to be a strong pitcher in his later years, the Angels have too many strong right-handed bats. Los Angeles will scratch across a few runs and then may be able to add on against the softer side of the Yankees’ pen—looking at you Dellin Betances.
Take the Angels to win this primetime showdown at home.
MLB Odds: Angels 5, Yankees 3
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