Athletics vs. Rangers Odds
| Athletics Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline | Total | Run Line |
+152 | 9 -122 / +100 | +1.5 -137 |
| Rangers Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline | Total | Run Line |
-180 | 9 -122 / +100 | -1.5 +114 |
Oakland has won three straight games by a combined run differential of +11, including Tuesday's series opener against the Rangers. Four-game win streaks might be rare for the Athletics, but they'll have a reasonable chance with Ross Stripling slated to pitch against Cody Bradford.
After an ugly 2023 campaign, Stripling has bounced back so far in 2024, with a 3.75 ERA across 12 innings.
Meanwhile, Bradford was brilliant versus Houston on Friday and owns a 2.13 ERA in 12 2/3 innings of work.
Here's an Athletics vs. Rangers pick today with MLB odds and predictions for Wednesday, April 10.
Oakland Athletics
Is it fair to say a team with a 4-7 record has been surprisingly decent? That might be the case for the Athletics, who have had a tougher than average schedule to this point.
Their team wRC+ of 91 ranks 19th in MLB, which is far greater than anybody projected this season.
Still, the Athletics rank last with a hard-hit rate of 29.7%. Their xWOBA of .289 also ranks last.
Shea Langeliers showed off his power last night with a hat-trick of home runs, and he gets a fun matchup tonight versus former Baylor teammate Bradford.
Stripling took advantage of some timely outs last time out versus the Red Sox. He allowed only one earned run, despite giving up eight hits and a .294 xBA in a game that featured 50 degree temperatures.
He's struck out only 18% of batters faced this season and has garnered whiffs only 15.5% of the time.
Since the start of last season, Stripling has allowed a slugging percentage of .486 when ahead in the count, which is the highest mark among starters who have pitched over 68 innings.
Not having the stuff to put batters away is certainly a concern ahead of a matchup versus a Rangers lineup that's made very few easy outs to start this season.
Texas Rangers
Bradford's early form is a crucial story for the Rangers, who are currently thin at the back end of the rotation. His 0.47 WHIP ranks second in all of MLB. He dominated the Astros on Friday, allowing only two hits across 7 2/3 innings.
It's not logical to expect such dominance to continue moving forward, but it seems realistic that he can come in around TheBat's season projection of a 4.00 ERA. That's all the Rangers will ask for.
Bradford has pitched to an xFIP of 4.25 so far this season. He owns a strikeout rate of 22%, but he's walked only 2.3% of batters faced so far. He's been hard-hit only 33.3% of the time this season, which would likely be the area we see some regression moving forward.
He's pitched to a Stuff+ rating of 101 and a Location+ of 95 this season.
Despite the absences of Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Jung from the lineup, the Rangers have remained a force to start the season. Their wRC+ of 128 through 12 games ranks second in baseball to only the Braves.
That mark hasn't come just based upon a BABIP heater either, as their .313 BABIP ranks ninth. They've struck out only 18% of the time and own the third-best K/BB ratio in the league at 0.59.
The Rangers were the fourth-most productive team in the league versus right-handed pitching last season, with a wRC+ of 114.
Following his offseason hernia surgery, Corey Seager has displayed no reasons for concern to start the year. He's slugged .474 with an .OPS of 916.
Seager was out of the lineup for a scheduled maintenance day yesterday, but he should start in tonight's contest.
Athletics vs. Rangers
Betting Pick & Prediction
Bradford's numbers are currently quite overinflated, but based on the betting prices for tonight, now isn't the time to fade him. He matches up fairly well against the Athletics' offense and shouldn't need to be overly dominant to give the Rangers a good chance in this game.
It also seems quite realistic to believe that Stripling is going to be considerably better than last season. That's been the case so far in terms of his actual runs allowed, and his underlying results look quite steady.
The starting pitchers in this game project to hold relatively even results this season. Still, I don't believe the gigantic gap between these two offenses is being accounted for enough.
Everyone projected the Rangers to be a top-five offense, and they've been exactly that so far.
You could bet the Rangers to win at -190, or back the Rangers to cover the spread at +110.
