Astros vs Angels Odds & Predictions for Sunday Night Baseball (July 16)
Odds as of July 16 at Bet365. Claim a Bet365 bonus code to bet on Sunday’s MLB action or see SBD’s Bet365 review.
Houston vs Los Angeles Probable Pitchers
The Astros, a top-four contender to repeat in the World Series odds, will give the ball to Cristian Javier. The 26-year-old looked like a legit a Cy Young odds candidate to start the season, but lately his performance has been downright terrible.
Javier posted a 5.79 ERA in June, and was smacked around by the Rangers in his only July outing. He coughed up nine hits, two homers, and eight runs to Texas, getting the hook after only 4.1 innings. Dating back to June 9th, he’s yielded as least four runs in four of five starts. Fortunately for him, he’s yet to suffer a loss during that stretch, after being the benefactor of double-digit run support on three separate occasions.
Slider:-2022: 16.9% SwK, 19% H%, .112 wOBA v RHH
-2023: 10.8% SwK, 23% H%, .271 wOBA v RHH
— Corbin (@corbin_young21) July 9, 2023
Perhaps a date with the Angels is what Javier needs to turn his season around. The right-hander has pitched very well against them this season, and over the course of his career. Javier is 2-0 versus LA this season, and has held the Angels regulars in the MLB starting lineups to a .237 average during his MLB tenure.
Javier vs Anderson Stats
Los Angeles will counter with lefty Tyler Anderson. The 33-year-old has struggled against strong lineups this season, and has an abysmal track record versus the Astros bats. Anderson lasted just 4.1 innings in his last outing versus the Dodgers in an 11-4 defeat. He’s been smacked around by the Rangers and Cubs recently, and both the Red Sox and Blue Jays hit him very hard earlier in the season.
Anderson’s .278/.350/.459 slash line is one of the worst marks of his eight-year career, and he’s yielded a .407 average to the Houston bats he’s faced over his MLB tenure. No Astro has had more success versus Anderson than Alex Bregman, who’s 3-for-6, with two homers and 4 RBI.
Astros vs Angels Predictions
Houston enters play ranked third in MLB in scoring over the past three weeks, and are poised to get to Anderson early and often. They’ve crossed the plate 19 times against LA already this weekend, smacking 26 hits. The Astros may be down slugger Yordan Alvarez (oblique), but there’s been no shortage of power provided by the rest of his teammates. Kyler Tucker, Jose Abreu and Yanier Diaz have combined for 13 home runs over the past three weeks, with each slugging north of .490 during that stretch.
Astros vs Angels Current Series Results
Houston is averaging six runs per game in nine contests versus LA this season, while the team absolutely cruses left-handed pitching. The Astros’ slugging percentage is .37 points higher against southpaws, while their OPS is .50 points better.
The Angels meanwhile, will look to build off the momentum of Saturday’s victory. Scoring runs has not been a problem for this group during their recent funk, it’s been pitching and defense that’s let them down. LA is yielding an average of nine runs per outing over their last seven games. They’ve coughed up double-digit runs in four of those contests, and not even AL MVP odds favorite Shohei Ohtani can help them overcome that on most nights.
Ohtani did his part on Saturday belting his MLB-leading 33rd home run, and is 6-for-19, with two dingers all-time against Javier. LA is still without Mike Trout (hand) and Brandon Drury (shoulder) putting them down two of their top-four hitters. The Angels are 1-5 without Trout during his most recent IL stint, and are 2-8 in the last 10 games that Drury sits.
Pick: Houston Astros Win + Over 9.5 Runs (+210)
