Oakland Athletics at Los Angeles Angels 8/2/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Oakland Athletics will open a series on the road at Angel Stadium against the struggling Los Angeles Angels. Both of these teams find themselves in the bottom of the AL West but the Athletics have had a strong start to the second half of the year, winning seven of ten to move to 39-65 on the year. The Angels have continued to struggle losing three of four to the Rangers and dropping to 43-59 on the year.

The Angels are also dealing with an injury to Mike Trout, a massive loss to a team that is struggling as is. Trout is on the 10-Day DL with back injuries, while the other main contributor is superstar Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani leads the team with 62 RBIs and has hit 22 home runs, which is second only to Trout. This offense as a whole has struggled averaging just 3.90 runs per game ranking 25th in the MLB in scoring offense.

The right-hander Noah Syndergaard will get the start for the Angels who has continued to be a strong piece to the rotation. Syndergaard is 5-8 but has a 3.83 ERA on the year and a 1.21 WHIP which would be his best numbers since 2018. He’s coming off a strong outing allowing a run on six hits in 5.2 innings of work, but the Angels bats were dead in a 6-0 loss to the Royals.

The Athletics are very clearly sellers at the deadline and send starting pitcher Frankie Montas to the Yankees. Montas was scheduled to make the start in this game, so that leaves the A’s rotation as a question mark heading into this game. Either way, this A’s team has struggled and will likely continue to do so through the second half of the year.

Oakland has struggled at the plate and is one of the worst offenses in the league averaging just 3.41 runs per game which ranks 29th in the MLB. First baseman Seth Brown has been one of few bright spots on this team leading the way with 15 home runs and 44 RBIs. Brown is thirty, but in just his second full year in the bigs and definitely his best thus far.