Kansas City Royals (0-0) vs Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (0-0)
The Kansas City Royals are heading into this season with a great deal of optimism.
Friday April 6
Angel Stadium of Anaheim – Anaheim, CA
10:05PM
Moneyline: Los Angeles -200, Kansas City +180
O/U: 7
Probable Starters:
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals LH Bruce Chen (2011: 12-8, 3.77 ERA) vs. Angels RH Jered Weaver (2011: 18-8, 2.41 ERA)
Kansas City
Last year saw the arrival of first baseman Eric Hosmer as a bonafide big league and other players like Mike Moustakas took steps forward. You might not have noticed but the Royals were one of the better hitting teams last year. They aren’t big thumpers but they hit for average and can work the count.
Unfortunately there hasn’t been as much development on the pitching side of things, hence Bruce Chen taking the opening day slot. Chen didn’t embarrass himself last year but he is far from an ace and might not even make the Angels rotation.
Kansas City played the Angels well last year taking 7 of 10.
They won Chen’s only start against him but he was long gone when they won in extra innings. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Anaheim
There is a huge amount of excitement for the Angels as nobody did more to improve themselves over the winter. The grabbed Albert Pujols from the World Series winning Cardinals and nabbed C.J. Wilson from the runner up Rangers.
Without them this team was already a contender, with them, this team should probably be the odds on favourite to win it all with a deep rotation and long lineup.
Last year was starter’s Jered Weaver’s best year as a pro. He has lowered his ERA each of the last 4 seasons in a row while simultaneously increasing his innings
If that trend continues he will probably win the Cy Young Award he nearly grabbed last season. With Pujols in tow this team should just rake against lefties like Chen as their best lineup features nothing but righthanded hitters.
The lone weak spot on this team is a bullpen dependent on Jordan Walden who had 10 blown saves last year
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Angels 7 – Royals 2
