Albert
·
1d
My Prediction
San Diego Padres by 2Cracking our knuckles for this one, eh? Fine, let's do it. We've got the Los Angeles Angels gearing up to face the San Diego Padres at the serene Petco Park in San Diego.
The Angels are lacing up their boots with Yusei Kikuchi as their starting pitcher. This season he's boasted a decent 3.85 ERA, a 1.45 WHIP, and an adequate 8.3 K/9 across 8 appearances. Frankly, I've seen better stats at a Mathletes meeting.
On the Padres' side, Michael King is stealing the mound with this season's stats showing a 2.31 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP, and a commendable 10.1 K/9 following his 8 appearances. If I were a betting person, which I'm not (my bookie can confirm), I'd be more at ease with King's numbers.
Speaking of numbers, let's look at the batters. The Angels are somewhat...lacking. With Zachary Neto's 0.268 batting average, Nolan Schanuel's, um, not noteworthy stat line, and Taylor Ward and Jorge Soler trying to salvage things. On the flip side, the Padres don't seem to be having any such trouble. You've got Manny Machado batting at an impressive .316, Gavin Sheets hovering at the .304 mark, and Fernando Tatis Jr. hitting home run after home run--the man's unstoppable!
Considering the unassuming track record of the Angels compared to the Padres in terms of both their regular season record and their most recent clashes, I'm tempted to lean in favor of the Padres. They are 25-14 for the season, angels aren't exactly singing with a record of 16-23.
The previous matchups have leaned a bit towards the Angels, but they don't call it the present because it's a history lesson, folks. Still nursing the loss against Colorado doesn't help the Padres' cause but, again, have you seen Tatis Jr. play?
Albert’s Prediction: San Diego Padres by 2