Houston Astros vs Los Angeles Angels Prediction, 4/7/2022 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Houston Astros vs Los Angeles Angels

Date: Thursday, April 7, 2022

Location: Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA

TV: Bally Sports SoCal

Odds/Point Spread: Houston (+105) Los Angeles (-125)

The Los Angeles Angels (77-85 last year) will try to defeat the Houston Astros (95-67 last season) at Angel Stadium on Thursday. The odds on this game have Houston at +105 while Los Angeles is sitting at -125. The betting total comes in at 8. The pitchers who are expected to start are Framber Valdez and Shohei Ohtani.

Houston had a slugging percentage of .444 and were called out on strikes 1,222 times, while drawing a walk on 569 occasions. They accrued 834 runs batted in as well as 1,496 base knocks for the previous season, while their average at the plate came in at .267. The Astros accounted for 299 two-baggers as a squad and hit 221 balls out of the stadium. They accumulated 863 runs and held an on-base percentage of .339. As a squad, the Houston Astros scored 5.3 runs/g, which had them at 1st in the league.

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Astros pitchers conceded 187 home runs and 658 runs in total (7th in MLB). Their pitching staff walked 549 opposing hitters and their FIP came in at 4.12 as a unit for the prior year. They had a K/BB ratio of 2.65 and their pitching staff had a team WHIP of 1.23. The Astros had a team earned run average of 3.76 in the prior season (7th in the league), and they rung up 1,456 hitters.

Astros relief pitchers came into the game with players on base 137 times and also had 166 games in high leverage situations. The relief pitchers finished with 69 holds during the previous year (25th in the league). The Astros relievers recorded a save percentage of 55.7% and came into the game in 131 save situations. They had 34 saves last season and blew 27 of 61 chances to get a save. The bullpen inherited 202 base runners last year with 36.1% of them earned a run for their team. The Astros had dispatched 512 relievers to the mound over the course of the prior season.

The Houston Astros earned a total of 4,335 putouts over the course of last year, as well as 1,432 assists and 71 errors. Their fielding percentage finished at .988 which had them ranked 1st in MLB, and earned 126 double plays. The Astros turned 71.3% of balls hit into play into outs out of their 13,005 innings, which had them sitting at 3rd in MLB.

Valdez has taken the ball for 313 innings and has 303 punch outs so far in his career. His earned run average is 3.74 (130 ER's allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.313. He has conceded 269 base hits (7.7 hits per 9 innings) with 142 walks. Valdez (24-17 win-loss mark in his career) holds a FIP of 4.04 while he has gone up against 1,343 batters in the major leagues.

The Los Angeles Angels recorded an OBP of .310 and a batting average of .245 over the course of the prior season. They were called out on strikes on 1,394 occasions (16th in the league) and accounted for 1,331 hits. Los Angeles accounted for 190 long balls last year in addition to 691 RBIs. The Angels had a team slugging % of .407 and they had an average of 4.46 runs per contest (17th in MLB). They recorded 265 doubles, while walking 464 times as well as recording 723 runs.

The Angels finished with a team WHIP of 1.383 and had a FIP of 4.25 as a squad last season. Their K/BB ratio came in at 2.45 (1,453 strikeouts against 592 walks). They had a ranking of 21st in MLB as a pitching staff in total hits conceded with 1,373. They gave up 188 home runs and they surrendered 5.09 runs per 9 innings (22nd in the league). The Los Angeles pitching staff surrendered 804 runs in the prior season while holding a team ERA of 4.69 (741 earned runs yielded).

Finishing with 140 save situations, the Angels recorded 73 holds and also 26 blown saves. Los Angeles had relief pitchers enter the contest in 65 save chances and they walked away with 39 saves. Their bullpen pitchers came in 173 times in high leverage situations and on 242 occasions with base runners. Los Angeles relievers had an inherited score percentage of 37.0% out of 365 inherited base runners. They ranked 19th in baseball with a save percentage of 60.0%, and they dispatched 562 relief pitchers to the hill last season.

Out of their 12,795 innings played, the Angels finished with a defensive efficiency of 68.0% (29th in the majors). Los Angeles Angels turned 131 double plays and had a fielding rate of .985 (17th in baseball). The Angels had 1,419 assists, 88 errors and earned a total of 4,265 putouts last year.

During his MLB career, Ohtani has given up 139 hits while tallying 222 strikeouts in 183 innings. Ohtani (13-5 career win-loss mark) is the owner of a 3.53 ERA while conceding 6.8 hits per nine innings. He has allowed a total of 72 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.160 and having a FIP of 3.6. His K/BB ratio is 3.00 and he has gone up against 760 hitters during his career.

Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread or moneyline?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Houston (+105)

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