Angels vs Padres Series Preview: Red-Hot Blake Snell Looks To Get the Padres Rolling

Both the Padres and Angels Have Some Work to Do To Make It Into the Playoffs

The San Diego Padres are next up as Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani continues to set a blistering pace that could land him another American League Most Valuable Player award. The Angels vs Padres series preview won’t lack star power for either team.

The Angels were second and the Padres seventh in slugging percentage during June so the pitching staff will have their work cut out for them.

Ohtani led the majors with 15 home runs, 29 RBIs, an on-base percentage of .492, and a slugging percentage of .952 in June. He leads the majors with 31 home runs, so he could be among the MLB best bets today.

Fernando Tatis Jr. led the Padres with a .591 slugging percentage, and Juan Soto was fifth in the majors in on-base percentage in June.

If the playoffs began today, the Angels would finish two games out of the final postseason berth in the American League, with the Padres 8.5 games out of the playoffs in the National League.

San Diego (+3000) is 11th, and the Angels (+3300) are 12th in the odds to win the World Series.

Probable Starting Pitchers

• Monday: Jaime Barria (Angels); Blake Snell (Padres)
• Tuesday: Shohei Ohtani (Angels); Joe Musgrove (Padres)
• Wednesday: Patrick Sandoval (Angels); Seth Lugo (Padres)

Doubling His Pleasure

Shohei Ohtani‘s prowess as a hitter and as a pitcher is not a new phenomenon, but it is still rather impressive.

In the last four games when he was the starting pitcher, Ohtani was 7-for-12 with four runs, six RBIs, a double, and four home runs. He has a pair of extra-base hits in four of the contests when he was also pitching.

Ohtani is ahead of the pace when Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees set the American League record with 62 home runs a season ago as he is setting the pace when it comes to the 2023 MLB home run leaders.

His pitching has been solid, but it hasn’t been at the same level. However, he has allowed only two runs or less in five of his last seven starts.

The total has gone under in 10 of the last 13 games played by the Angels.

Finding Ways to Lose

The Padres began June with an impressive win over a Miami team that could be on the way to the postseason. Since then, one of the teams expected to compete for the National League pennant is just 12-16.

Part of the issue is a .212 batting average with runners in scoring position and those numbers would look even worse if not for Tatis hitting .315 and Nelson Cruz .300 with runners in scoring position. That has played a role in San Diego going 0-7 in extra-inning games and 5-15 in one-run games. Keep those numbers in mind when looking at the Angels vs Padres betting preview.

Four of San Diego’s last six games went over the total.

Who’s Hot

• Josh Hader, San Diego Padres P: Hader hasn’t allowed a run in his last eight outings. He has surrendered four hits and struck out 13 of the 31 batters he has faced.
• Aaron Loup, Los Angeles Angels P: Loup has allowed two hits and no runs with four strikeouts in four innings over his last four appearances.
• Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels DH: Ohtani is hitting .400 with 12 runs, seven home runs, 10 extra-base hits, and 10 RBIs in his last 10 games.
• Juan Soto, San Diego Padres OF: Soto is batting .438 with two extra-base hits and five RBIs in his last four games.

Who’s Not

• Jaime Barria, Los Angeles Angels: Barria was 0-1 with a 5.84 ERA in four outings in June with five home runs allowed in 15.1 innings.
• Jake Cronenworth, San Diego Padres: Cronenworth is 3-for-24 with six strikeouts over his last seven games.
• Tim Hill, San Diego Padres P: Hill has surrendered five hits and 10 runs in 3.2 innings over his last four appearances.
• Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Angels 3B: Rendon is 2-for-31 with eight strikeouts over his last nine games.

Angels vs Padres Injury Update

The Angels, who are without infielder Gio Urshela for the rest of the season, just saw infielder Brandon Drury land on the injured list with a shoulder injury. Shortstop Zach Neto is also sidelined.

For the Padres, one big question is when pitcher Yu Darvish will make his next start as he has been slowed by illness. Relief pitcher Drew Carlson is on the injured list with an elbow injury while infielder Matt Carpenter has played in just two of the last six games.

Angels vs Padres Betting Preview

All eyes will be on Ohtani when he pitches in the second of the three games for the Angels. Can Angels pitchers Barria and Sandoval overcome recent shaky outings in the other two games?

Blake Snell gets the start in the series opener for the Padres and he has an ERA of 0.86 over his last seven starts. Snell and the Padres are priced at -175 to win the series opener with the Angels at +155.

Five of the last seven games between the teams finished under the total.

The Angels have covered 24 of 43 road games compared to an 18-24 record against the spread at home for the Padres. Los Angeles has seen 23 of its road games finish over the total. The total sits at 8 juiced to the over at -120.

For MLB betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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