The Texas Rangers took down the Philadelphia Phillies on MLB Opening Day in what turned out to be a surprising offensive shootout with a final score of 11-7.
The two teams will continue their series on Saturday and both teams will hope to get better results from their pitchers. Zack Wheeler will take the mound for the Phillies and he'll face off against Nathan Eovaldi of the Rangers.
Will the Phillies get their revenge? I think they will.
Let's jump into it.
Phillies vs. Rangers odds, spread, and total
Phillies vs. Rangers prediction and pick
The Rangers first big offseason acquisition, Jacob deGrom, had one of his worst starts of his career in his Rangers debut and now they'll turn to their second offseason acquisition, Nathan Eovaldi, in game number two.
Unfortunately for Texas, I don't have much faith in him on his new team. He saw some significant regression from Eovaldi last season, sporting a 3.87 ERA but a much more concerning 4.30 FIP. His strikeout rate also dropped from 9.6 Ks per nine innings to 8.5, and his 2022 WHIP was 1.235.
Up against the potent Phillies lineup, those numbers are going to come back to haunt him in his first start.
Meanwhile, Zack Wheeler will look to continue his strong 2022 season, and there's no reason to believe he won't. At 32 years old, he's a true ace for the Phillies despite being in the No. 2 spot. Philadelphia already has the offensive advantage and I think it's safe to say they have the pitching advantage as well.
I'll take the Phillies on the moneyline.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.