Yankees vs Angels MLB | Ohtani Back On Mound For LA

AL MVP favorite Shohei Ohtani returns to the mound on Tuesday – although he will still hit, too – as the Angels face the New York Yankees in Game 2 of their series. Even as good as Ohtani has been, the Angels are short underdogs on the MLB odds.

How to Bet Yankees at Angels MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 9:38 PM ET
Where: Angel Stadium
Probable pitchers (away/home): Jameson Taillon/Shohei Ohtani
TV: MLB Extra Innings
Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/
Opening MLB Lines: Yankees -117, Angels +107 (total 8.5)

Why Bet on New York?

The Yankees remain without shortstop Gleyber Torres but he is expected to rejoin the club on Friday. Torres is set to play in minor league rehab games Tuesday and Wednesday before returning for Friday’s contest against the Orioles. The 24-year-old is slashing .253/.328/.351 with six homers, 42 RBI and 12 steals on the season. Torres has had a miserable season, with his production at the plate plummeting and missing time on the COVID-19 IL. Not a sure thing he gets his full-time job at short back as Andrew Velazquez and Tyler Wade have filled in well.

The Yankees have used 57 players this season (P: 28, C: 3, INF: 13, OF: 13), their second-highest total in franchise history (58 players in 2014).

Outfielders Clint Frazier and Miguel Andujar also are on the injured list. Frazier has been doing baseball activities at the team’s training facility in Tampa. However, when asked if he thought whether Frazier and Andujar could be options for the Yankees the rest of the season, manager Aaron Boone was honest: “I don’t know.”

It’s Jameson Taillon (8-4, 4.18) on the mound Tuesday. Taillon was charged with five runs over 3 2/3 innings last Thursday in a no-decision against the Athletics. Taillon was staked to an early six-run lead, but surrendered back-to-back homers to Matt Chapman and Sean Murphy in the third inning, and was unable to escape a bases-loaded jam in the ensuing frame. He finished with four strikeouts and also issued three walks in the brief outing.

It was the righty’s shortest start since June 18 and snaps a streak of nine outings allowing no more than three earned runs. Taillon has failed to surpass five strikeouts in eight of his last nine starts to total 43 whiffs in 50.1 innings over the stretch.

Taillon faced the Angels on June 29 and surrendered five runs in 5 1/3 innings in an 11-5 win. He gave up three homers.

Why Bet on Los Angeles?

Will the Angels get superstar outfielder Mike Trout back at some point this year? He has been out since May 17 due to a calf injury. The center fielder said he thought he’d already be back after injuring his right calf running the bases that night. Trout will play center field if he is able to rejoin the big club this season despite some discussion of him shifting to a corner-outfield spot. The nine-time All-Star is hitting .333 with eight home runs and 18 RBIs in 36 games.

“It’s one of the hardest things I’ve been through in my career,” Trout said. “I’ve been through some injuries, but this thing is tough. I never realized how much I use my calf.”

Fellow superstar and AL MVP favorite Shohei Ohtani was struck on the right hand over the weekend but X-rays confirmed there is no issue. Ohtani did not even leave the game after being evaluated. He is the first Japanese-born player with at least 40 homers and 20 steals in an MLB season. He’s also just the fifth foreign-born player to achieve the feat. No Angels player had done it – not even Trout.

“Every day for the rest of the season, he’s probably going to do something that really stands out,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “It’s impressive. Because he’s pitching, too. My God.”

Ohtani’s most recent start on the mound was last Wednesday when he gave up four runs and three homers in five innings against the Orioles in a rare poor outing. It was enough to snap the Orioles‘ 19-game losing streak on a night in which they were huge underdogs to do so, though Ohtani wasn’t involved in the decision in the 10-6 game.

During a brilliant all-around year as a two-way superstar, Ohtani’s biggest stumble as a pitcher came June 30 at Yankee Stadium when he gave up seven runs and could not get out of the first inning. Ohtani also hit three home runs in the first two games of that series.

Ohtani is 8-1 with a 3.00 ERA overall and sixth in the American League in Baseball-Reference WAR for a pitcher only. Among all major leaguers with at least 100 innings, he is seventh in lowest batting average allowed, 11th in strikeout rate and 12th in OPS allowed.