Game Time: 7:05 pm ET, Saturday, June 4th , 2022 

Venue: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Where to Watch: Fox

DraftKings: Money-line: 

BetMGM: Moneyline:   

Angels: 27-25, 2nd place AL Central.

Phillies: 22-29, 3rd place NL East

The Philadelphia Phillies have not been a good team this season… and they kept not being good until the ownership group had had enough!  Manager Joe Girardi was fired either lat last night or early this morning.  A bench coach, Rob Thomson, was elevated to “interim manager”.  Management will review several candidates for the Manager position while giving Joe Thompson a chance at the job.  The big problem in Philly is that management feels as if they spent money to get a good product by adding recognizable names over the last few years… the real problem is that they haven’t done enough and the roster has no chance of jelling without a firm direction to head in.  You can’t field a winning team that is also below average in pitching… It is just not possible.  Also it feels a lot like Joe Girardi is somehow responsible for the DEEP injury list the Phillies are sporting.  The firing provides a swell amount of tumult for the Angels to take advantage of… will they?

A battle between an American League Central 2nd place team and a National League East 3rd place team.  These middle of the pack teams often provide enough drama to make the game entertaining while still providing a great betting opportunity.  Both the Angels and the Phillies suffer from the same troubles… They have a handful of stars at the top… followed by a team full of regular guys.  Regular guys are guys that can play baseball enough to keep a big-time Major League job and paycheck… but they do not often affect the outcome in the win/loss column.  The Angels stars are amazing… Shoehei Ohtani and Mike Trout… two of the biggest unwatched stars on the planet.  The Phillies stars Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are not quite at the level of Ohtani and Trout… but are still an important duo. (Schwarber may in fact be replaceable on the list by J.T. Realmuto).  In this case the immediate red flag in betting on this game is that Phillies’ star Bryce Harper is questionable with a nagging forearm injury for Friday’s game.  If Harer misses the game he will be sitting there next to SS Didi Gregorious who is also sidelined with injury.  

The Los Angeles Angels have only won 3 of their last 10 games.  This stretch has sabotaged a good start to the season.  The Angels are at a precipice that the team has seen often over the last few decades.  They need to simply go “all-in” one of these years to produce postseason results.  They need to open the wallet beyond 2-3 guys on the squad.  They need to make moves that will fill the lineup and the bullpen and they need to pay for it big.  The Dodgers, The Yankees, The Giants, the Brewers,... the writing is on the wall… The Angels have to spend or trade to get better very fast.  The combo of Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout will never happen for this franchise again.  Try now or never.  Conversely trading both guys with the idea of adding multiple good players and minor league assets may do the trick too.  The Angels went 0-1 to the Yankees, 0-4 to the Toronto Blue Jays, 1-1 against the Texas Rangers, and 2-1 against the Oakland Athletics.  

The Philadelphia Phillies have only won 3 of their last 10 games.  They have a deep injury list, but they also have a long history of disappointing fans after an OK start.  There have been 7 Philly OVERS and 3 Philly UNDERS during that stretch.  They went 1-2 against the San Francisco Giants, 0-3 against the New York Mets, 1-2 against the Atlanta Braves, and 1-0 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  The Phillies are limping along with Didi Gregorious and Bryce Harper suffering injuries… The remaining line-up has some good stuff but not enough.  The pitching is atrocious.  The Phillies are another team that owe baseball a sacrifice.  Bryce Harper must go to improve this team.  Bryce makes a ton of money and the team has shown an inability to build around him.  Why not move him to reload a roster?  Why not make the Yankees or the Blue Jays or the Red Sox day by opening a bidding war in the AL East? Load up with young talent… load up with current starters, load up with cash!  Get better… Someone else will win the World Series this year… just as someone else will always win the World Series… Why not push it all in?

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The Angels are 27-22 on the season.  21 Over, 22 Under, and 6 Push.  They are 12-9 in road games.

The Angels are 4th in scoring with 4.80 runs per game, 8th in batting average with .250, and 6th in OBP with .322.

The Phillies are 11th in scoring with 4.51 runs per game, 12th in batting average with .245, and 17th in OBP with .310.

The Angels pitchers are 10th in ERA with 3.68, 6th in WHIP with 1.15.  They have been below average in fielding… ranking 18th in errors with 27 on the season so far.

Phillies pitchers are 18th in ERA with 4.05, 21st in WHIP with 1.30, and a poor 20th in errors with 32 on the season so far.

Our prediction for Saturday, June 4th is….  Angels 5 - Phillies 3

Sometimes a team has a big jump in wins when a manager is let go and an interim manager is named… It is hard for the players who were on the outs with the old guy to keep complaining… and even the stars feel like it is a new day.  The reason that won’t happen here is the Phillies Injury List… even if the stars feel good about the move… 2 of them will not be on the field to show us.

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(will update)

Angels: C K. Suzuki (neck) Quest ** 3B A. Rendon (wrist) Out ** SS D. Fletcher (groin) Out

Phillies: RF Bryce Harper (forearm) Quest ** SS Didi Gregorious (knee) Out ** SS Jean Segura (finger) Out ** 

Angels: RHP Michael Lorenzen, 5-2, 3.19 ERA, 31 strikeouts in 48 innings pitched.  1.06 WHIP.  The 30 year old is ready and raring to go.  The Cal-State product has been pitching real well this season and would very much like to grow that resume.

Phillies: TBD… The Phillies just met a new manager… of course they don’t know exactly who will pitch for them.  To be true it would greatly benefit the new guy to go with a bullpen game and make the guys believe they are “auditioning” for their jobs.  That is always a sure way to get an increase of focus.  

Angels: RF Taylor Ward, DH Shohei Ohtani, CF Mike Trout, 1B Jared Walsh, 2B Luis Rengifo, LF Brandon Marsh, C Max Stassi, SS Andrew Velazquez, 3B Tyler Wade

Phillies: LF Kyle Schwarber, 1B Rhys Hoskins, RF Nick Castellanos, C J.T. Realmuto, DH Alec Bohm, CF Odubel Herrera, 3B Johan Carmargo, 2B Nick Maton, SS Bryson Stott

Angels: Joe Maddon

Phillies: Rob “I’m the new guy, but not here for long” Thomson

Sunny. 85*, Humidity 31%, wind at 11 mph.  A good day for baseball… and a necessary patch of sun to dry out this waterlogged field.