Tampa Bay Rays vs Los Angeles Angels Prediction, 5/6/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Tampa Bay Rays vs Los Angeles Angels

Date: Thursday, May 6, 2021

Location: Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA

TV: Bally Sports West

Odds/Point Spread: Tampa Bay (+111) Los Angeles (-121)

Angel Stadium is the site where Andrew Heaney and the Los Angeles Angels (13-15, 4th in AL West) will play the Tampa Bay Rays (16-15, 3rd in AL East) on Thursday. The Rays open this game at +111 while the Angels are priced at -121. The O/U has been set at 8.5. The starting pitchers will be Josh Fleming and Andrew Heaney.

As a team, the Tampa Bay Rays are notching 4.3 runs per game, which puts them at 16th in MLB. They have earned a total of 134 runs while holding a team OBP of .309. The Rays have hit 53 doubles as a team and have hit 32 balls out of the park. They have 124 RBI's and 236 base knocks on the year, and their average at the plate is at .226. Tampa Bay is slugging .374 and have struck out 319 times, while drawing a walk on 109 occasions.

The Rays are sitting with a team earned run average of 4.08 this year (17th in the league), and the staff has rung up 282 batters. Their strikeout to walk ratio is 3.20 and their pitching staff has a collective WHIP of 1.18. Rays pitchers have yielded 31 home runs and 137 total runs (21st in baseball). They have walked 88 batters and their FIP comes in at 3.58 as a team on the year.

Rays relief pitchers have gone to the mound with runners on base 24 times in addition to having 43 appearances in high leverage situations. The relievers have earned 22 holds on the campaign (3rd in the league). The Rays relief pitchers have recorded a save percentage of 62.5% and has entered the game in 38 save situations. They have 10 saves on the campaign and have blown 6 of their 16 save chances. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 29 runners over the course of the season with 27.6% of them earned a run for their team. The Rays have dispatched 95 relief pitchers to the mound for the season.

The Tampa Bay Rays have a total of 841 putouts at this point in the season, as well as 265 assists and 10 errors. Their fielding percentage is currently at .991 which ranks 2nd in pro baseball, and they have turned 191 double plays. The Rays have turned 70.5% of balls in play into outs out of their 2,523 innings on the field, which ranks them 15th in MLB.

Fleming (6-3 career mark) has earned a FIP of 4.25 while he has faced 213 opposing batters during his time in the majors. He has surrendered 41 base knocks (7.0 hits per nine innings) and has 16 walks. His ERA is 2.55 (15 earned runs allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.075. Fleming has taken the hill for 53 innings and has totaled 37 K's during his career.

The Angels hold a team slugging percentage of .429 and they average 4.68 runs per outing (10th in MLB). They have put up 39 doubles, while getting a free base 72 times as well as scoring 131 runs. Los Angeles has a total of 40 HRs on the season to go along with 120 RBIs. They have been called out on strikes on 230 occasions (26th in MLB) and have totaled 249 base hits. The Los Angeles Angels have an on-base percentage of .317 in addition to a batting average of .258 on the year.

The Los Angeles pitching staff have surrendered 156 runs so far this season while having a team ERA of 5.04 (138 earned runs surrendered). They have surrendered 33 long balls and they relinquish 5.70 runs per 9 innings (30th in the league). The Angels have a team WHIP of 1.409 in addition to having a FIP of 3.91 as a staff this year. Their strikeout to walk ratio comes in at 2.73 (300 strikeouts against 110 bases on balls). They rank 21st in the league as a staff in total hits surrendered with 237.

Los Angeles has called on relief pitchers to step onto the hill in 10 save opportunities and they have earned 5 saves. They are ranked 23rd in the league with a save percentage of 50.0%, and they have sent 99 relievers onto the diamond on the campaign. Their bullpen pitchers have taken the field 27 times in high leverage situations and also on 43 occasions with base runners. Los Angeles relievers hold an inherited score rate of 49.1% out of 57 inherited runners. Sitting with 18 save situations, the Angels have accrued 8 holds in addition to 5 blown saves.

In 2,220 innings on the diamond, the Angels hold a defensive efficiency of 65.0% (30th in baseball). The Los Angeles Angels have turned 18 double plays and have a fielding percentage of .972 (30th in professional baseball). The Angels have racked up 255 assists, 29 errors and have earned a total of 740 putouts over the course of the season.

Heaney (25-31 win-loss record in his career) holds a 4.48 ERA while giving up 8.7 hits per nine innings. He has a K/BB ratio of 3.63 and he has gone up against 2,224 opposing batters so far in his MLB career. He has surrendered a total of 263 earned runs while earning a WHIP of 1.243 and being the owner of a FIP of 4.3. Thus far in his career, Heaney has allowed 510 hits while he has tallied 534 K's in 528 innings pitched.

Who will win tonight's MLB game ATS?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Los Angeles (-121)

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