Los Angeles Angels vs New York Yankees (6/1/22) Starting Lineup, Betting Odds, Prediction
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Two hard-hitting lineups will go head to head in this American League series. The Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees are filled with sluggers from Shohei Ohtani to Mike Trout to Aaron Judge to Giancarlo Stanton.
The Yankees have played better so far this season, although they most recently dropped a series to the Rays in Tampa.
Meanwhile, the Angels have slipped after their hot start. After five straight losses, the Halos have dug a four-game hole in the AL West.
So, both teams will look to bounce back here. Which team has the edge?
Let’s dive into the starting lineups, betting odds, and my prediction for this Wednesday matchup.
Los Angeles Angels vs New York Yankees Odds
After the Yankees eviscerated Noah Syndergaard yesterday, it’s obvious that the Bronx Bombers will be heavy favorites in Game 2 of this series.
However, Nestor Cortes is the other reason the Yankees are big favorites in this spot. Cortes has an ERA south of 2.00 and a K/9 north of 10.
The Angels will send Reid Detmers to the mound, who has been very lackluster outside of the no-hitter he pitched this season.
A total set at 8.5 seems about right for these two lineups. Although I could see an argument for the under.
Los Angeles Angels Starting Lineup
RF Taylor Ward R
CF Mike Trout R
DH Shohei Ohtani L
1B Jared Walsh L
3B Matt Duffy R
2B Luis Rengifo S
C Max Stassi R
LF Brandon Marsh L
SS Andrew Velazquez S
Los Angeles Angels vs Nestor Cortes
The Angels’ offense has been unreal all season.
Of course, a lineup with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani in it should be dominant. But while both those guys are raking, it’s the other guys in the lineup making noise.
The current MLB leader in OPS is an Angels player, but it’s not one of the stars. Taylor Ward has a 1.181 OPS through 142 PAs this season, including a K/BB ratio that is nearly one-to-one (17.6 BB%, 21.1 K%).
It’s huge that Ward is breaking out after toiling in the Minors for so long. And the Angels are really happy to have another outfielder that can contribute offensively as well as Trout.
Ohtani started slow but has seven HRs and a .973 OPS over his last 20 games. I’d expect his OPS to rise up over .800 in the coming weeks. He still hits the ball as hard as anyone (92.3mph avg. exit velocity) and his xSLG is 100 points higher than his actual SLG (.470 SLG, .581 xSLG).
But can this Angels lineup get to Cortes?
Cortes has become an entirely different pitcher since he developed his cutter. He’s still got a solid four-seam, but now he has two dominant fastballs he can mix and match. Those two pitches have recorded a combined -13 Run Value through his nine starts this season.
However, the Angels have been the best team against cutters this season, recording 15.3 weighted cutter runs created – that’s about seven runs higher than the second-place Phillies.
New York Yankees Starting Lineup
3B DJ LeMahieu R
RF A. Judge R
1B A. Rizzo L
2B G. Torres R
DH M. Andujar R
CF A. Hicks S
SS I. Kiner-Falefa R
C K. Higashioka R
LF J. Gallo L
New York Yankees vs Reid Detmers
The no-hitter was truly amazing. But, Detmers struck out just two batters of the 28 he faced and walked one. His overall xFIP ended up at 4.76 in that start, indicating he was just a bit lucky.
The rest of his starts agree with that. Detmers is striking out just 5.98 batters per nine innings this season with a 4.65 ERA and a 5.01 FIP. He doesn’t do much right, as shown by his Baseball Savant page:
Image credit: Baseball Savant
Detmers throws his four-seam about half the time and compliments it with a curveball, slider, and changeup. None of his offerings are dominant, although his fastball and changeup are slightly plus.
Surprisingly, the Yankees haven’t killed fastballs this season. Instead, it’s mostly sliders. That’s surprising for a team with a bunch of hard-hitting, three-outcome sluggers.
Aaron Judge has been ridiculously hot. He’s slashing .339/.376/.669 so far this season with a whopping 18 home runs. Only the aforementioned Ward is slugging a higher number, and his 198 wRC+ trails only Ward and Trout.
Los Angeles Angels vs New York Yankees Pick & Prediction
My pick: Under 8.5 (-110 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
This line has already taken some sharp money that moved the total down to 8 (-120) at DraftKings. I think it’d be wise to back the smart money and look that way here.
Over the last two weeks, the Yankees have posted the fourth-worst wRC+ in MLB. This offense got off to a tremendously hot start but has been poor since. The Yankee bullpen also continues to be the strong point of the team, posting the fourth-best xFIP over the last two weeks.
Meanwhile, the Angel offense continues to thrive. But, they’ll have to deal with Cortes and the aforementioned New York bullpen.
Since 2006, if you bet every single under between two teams with a winning percentage over 51%, you would’ve hit at a 55% clip for an 8% ROI.
I’ll take those odds.
