Blue Jays picks and props vs. Angels July 29: Fade Manoah vs. hot L.A. offence
The Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Angels are first up on Saturday with the first pitch set for 3:07 p.m.
The pregame narrative: The mercurial Alek Manoah is back on the mound, and we’re looking to fade him. Aside from L.A.’s 4-1 loss to Toronto last night in the series opener, the Halos have been red hot lately.
MLB oddsas of 9:20 a.m. ET on 07/29/2023.
Blue Jays picks vs. Angels
Best Bet: Angels over 4.5 runs (-107)
Despite what Matt Chapman says, Shohei Ohtani is not the only guy on the Angels who can hit.
Since the all-star break, L.A. has the best OPS in the AL (.861) and is averaging 6.3 runs per game. And yes, Ohtani’s .289/.458/.822 slash line in that span helps plenty, but the team as a whole has posted some nice numbers.
Mickey Moniak, for example, is riding a 17-game hit streak in which he’s batting .370.
Instead of going down the whole lineup, let’s focus a bit on the guy they’re facing. Manoah (2-8, 6.10 ERA) has been all over the place this year, and most teams have capitalized against him.
The right-hander has a disastrous 6.3 walks-per-nine rate, and he’s dealt nine free passes in just his past two outings. L.A. has the seventh-highest walk rate in the majors (9.1%), so that’s something the team could take advantage of.
In Manoah’s 16 starts this year, opponents have topped this total nine times. That includes seven of his past 10 outings.
Key stat: Los Angeles has scored five or more runs in 11 of its past 14 games.
Quick picks
Most hits - Angels (+110) : To further tap into the Angels’ hot offence, we like this plus-money play on the hits market.
L.A. only scratched across one run last night, but it also outhit Toronto, 9-8. The Angels have posted the most hits in three consecutive games, and they finished tied in the two games prior to that.
Manoah has allowed a .273 opponent BA this year, as well as 9.8 H/9. Those numbers are markedly higher than Angels starter Reid Detmers (.241 opponent BA, 8.3 H/9), which helps our case.
