Angels vs. Athletics prediction and odds for Opening Day

The Angels will look to return to the postseason for the first time since 2014, and the journey starts on Opening Day in Oakland against the Athletics.

Los Angeles will send out superstar Shohei Ohtani to start the opener against AL West foes Athletics, who will counter with Kyle Muller on Thursday night.

Ohtani is going to be on the mound and in the lineup, flanked by the likes of Mike Trout as the Halos are overwhelming road favorites to get off to a 1-0 start.

The A's are still in the infancy of its rebuild and are projected to be the worst team in baseball, so I expect Ohtani, who looked elite in the World Baseball Classic ahead of the regular season, to be in midseason form.

The former AL MVP had a 2.33 ERA last season while striking out nearly 12 batters per nine innings in 2022. Against an Oakland lineup that was last in the big leagues last season in on-base percentage and 28th in run differential, Ohtani should dominate.

On the other side, I expect the Angels offense to pounce on Muller. The A's third year pitcher has hardly been used in the big lease, starting just 11 games over the past seasons while posting a 5.14 ERA. It's tough to expect Muller to put up much of a fight against an Angels lineup that has All-Star caliber hitters such as Ohtani and Trout in the middle of the lineup.

We know that over the balance of the season the A's will show as the worst team in baseball, but there's still value fading this team game-to-game, especially early on before oddsmakers impose a heavy tax to do so.

I'll back the Angels to get off to a winning start to 2023 by backing them on the run line.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.