Los Angeles Angels vs. Texas Rangers Prediction:
The Texas Rangers’ defense of their 2024 World Series has not gone as planned. At home, Tthey look to a starting pitcher who figures to be in their plans for 2025 and beyond against the Los Angeles Angels.
Jack Leiter is making his sixth career MLB start. Leiter enters having allowed at least three runs in all five of them and at least five runs in four of his five starts, supplying an 11.78 ERA. He has allowed at least six hits in every start, despite pitching only 18 1/3 innings across those five starts.
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Behind Leiter is a Rangers bullpen that is 24th among the 30 MLB teams with a 4.40 ERA. The Angels bullpen since July 1 had an American League-best 2.96 ERA entering Friday, but they’re due for regression.
The Angels bullpen expected fielding independent since July 1 is 4.58, which ranks 27th in the league.
Angels starter Tyler Anderson also appears to be due for further regression. Anderson has allowed at least four runs in three of his past four starts, and despite that, he has a fielding independent that is more than a full point higher than his ERA.
Anderson has a 3.55 ERA while getting 6.9 strikeouts per nine innings while allowing 1.2 home runs and 3.6 walks. His ERA ticks all the way down to 2.26 on the road, getting seven strikeouts and 3.3 walks per nine innings.
The Angels entered Friday 27th in the league with 3.9 runs per game, while the Rangers are 22nd with 4.2 runs per game. Combine that with the struggles of Leiter and the potentially massive amount of regression for the Angels, and we’re expecting a high-scoring game on Saturday.
MLB Pick: Los Angeles Angels vs. Texas Rangers Over 8.5 Runs
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