A Parlay Of Sorts For Rockies At Angels

Rockies vs. Angels, 9:30 ET

My favorite thing to tell people when they ask me about why I love sports betting is this: It makes everything - props, totals, sides - relevant. If you don't care about two teams playing, and they are out of the playoff race, what is the point of even checking a box score? Leagues understand this and that's at least part of the reason that they have embraced sports betting. We have the Rockies and Angels, teams that have been irrelevant this season, squaring off tonight. 

The Rockies have the second-worst record in baseball. How have they gotten to this point? Great question. There isn't one single factor that put them in this spot. In the past 24 seasons, they have exactly six winning seasons. They've only made the playoffs four times since 1996. Is it the way the franchise is run? Is it the lack of development in the farm system? Who knows? They have taken a few shots on free agents, but none have really worked out. The last big one was Kris Bryant and he has been fairly useless in his time with Colorado. Pitchers don't want to come to the Rockies because half of their games are played in Coors Field. The team lacks direction and, unfortunately, they don't look like it is coming any time soon. A team that is 30 games under .500 is unlikely to have a massive turnaround in the next season. The team is absolutely awful on the road and has been for years. This season they have just 15 wins on the road. Even if they win every one of the remaining road games, they will still be under .500 for the season on the road. Ryan Feltner is tonight's starter for the Rockies, and he is sitting at 1-10 with a 4.99 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. As you might expect, he does pitch better on the road, but it isn't drastic. He is at 4.16 on the road, holding hitters to a .246 batting average as opposed to .314 at home. There isn't much experience to speak of for Feltner against the Angels. He has pitched better lately having a quality start in four of the past six outings. Unfortunately, the Rockies have lost all six of those starts and only two of them have been one-run games. 

Jul 30, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels right fielder Jo Adell (7) hits a solo home run in the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Angels are not that much better than the Rockies, but they do at least have Mike Trout some of the time to be a reason for people to tune in. Even with two generational talents on the roster for the past few years, they never got it together to find a path in the playoffs. Pitching has been an issue for this team for an extended period of time. I genuinely can't remember the last time that they had an ace on the roster. To their credit, they have made attempts to bolster the roster, but due to injuries or poor performances, the team still struggled. This will be the team's ninth straight losing season, and they haven't made the playoffs since 2014. Hope is certainly not on the horizon for this club either. Carson Fulmer is taking the hill tonight to battle the Rockies. Fulmer is making just his fourth start of the season. Over 27 outings this season, he has a 3.77 ERA, and a 1.20 WHIP. He hasn't thrown more than 77 pitches in a game this season, so I wouldn't expect him to go too deep in the game. His past three outings, all starts, saw him go 4.2 innings or more and allow three or fewer earned runs in each game. Rockies hitters are just 1-for-5 against him.

 Betting on either of these teams isn't a winning option. Fading them can be profitable, but picking spots where they might win can lead you to getting some good value. Both teams are struggling this season and will likely struggle for years to come still. I do think we have a clear play here though. I think both teams will score at least two runs in the first five innings. This play is at +150 on DraftKings. 

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