Believe it or not, we are just a day away from the first official week of College Football. Sure, we had Week 0, and those games count, but this is the first week where everyone is back in action. That means baseball will take a bit of a backseat to football coming up very shortly. However, we would be foolish to ignore it completely as the playoff race is heating up, and on those off days for football, this is where we can make extra money. Tonight we will do that as the Yankees take on the Angels.
The New York Yankees are still in second place within their division, and to me, they still seem to be essentially the same team they’ve been since about June. Aaron Judge went down after the May 31 game, but is now slated to potentially be back this week or next. The team was 13 games above .500 with Judge, so they have played well even without their leader on the field. Getting him back will be a shot in the arm as they look to secure a Wild Card spot.
Part of the reason for the Yankees’ success is that they’ve had very good pitching this year. As a team, they have a 3.25 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. One of their best pitchers goes tonight, as they have gotten a phenomenal season out of Cam Schlittler. For the year, Schlittler is 12-6 with a 2.09 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. He also has 201 strikeouts, putting him at sixth in the Majors. He has been phenomenal on the road this season with a 1.14 ERA in his visiting starts, and that’s in almost 30 more innings thrown on the road than at home. Only Josh Lowe has faced Schlittler, and he is 2-for-4 against him.
The Los Angeles Angels are a disaster once again, but there is finally some reason for optimism. The team just announced that they’ve been sold, which is something the fans have been calling for over the past few years. I want to defend the franchise a little bit – at least they spent money and tried. There are many franchises that are bad that never really try for free agents. Unfortunately, the ones the Angels tried for were old, uninterested in baseball, injured, or just didn’t work out. Sure, they had Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani at one point, and never won a playoff game (rarely even getting there). However, Trout was always injured, as were many other guys on the roster. Still, sometimes the best thing for a team and franchise is change.
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One thing they do not want to change is the production they’ve gotten out of today’s starter Reid Detmers. This season has been great for Detmers. He is 4-8 with a 3.54 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. His 174 strikeouts put him at 11th in baseball as well. Overall, his ERA is 25th, and his WHIP is 10th. Those aren’t Cy Young numbers, but they are certainly front of the rotation numbers. He has been equally good at home as on the road, pitching slightly better at home. He did face the Yankees earlier, allowing just one earned run over seven innings on four hits.
There are a few different ways to look at this game. I think the value is actually on the Angels as they are +141 tonight. Schlittler has been awesome on the road, but that doesn’t mean he is definitely going to win the game. Detmers has also been very good. I think the better bet is to take the under 7 or 7.5. Neither starter is likely to give up a ton of runs. I will play the under and sprinkle the Angels moneyline. Vibes might be high in the clubhouse with the announcement of the sale.
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