Shohei Ohtani MLB Trade Deadline odds: Angels star may be making final home start on mound Friday vs. Pirates

It's always an event – often a sellout crowd (or close to it) on hand – in Anaheim when Los Angeles Angels dual-threat superstar Shohei Ohtani takes the mound. He will do so on Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates in what could well be Ohtani's final pitching start with the Halos at Angel Stadium. L.A. is a -200 favorite at Caesars Sportsbook and SportsLine offers updated odds on if he will be traded.

It seems to depend on the day on whether Ohtani is likely to be moved by the Aug. 1 trade deadline. The Angels no doubt are at least listening. The arrow was pointed toward Ohtani being dealt with the Halos losing their first game out of the break, their sixth straight loss, to fall to 45-47.

However, the team has won four of five – against the Astros and Yankees – and could easily sweep all three at home this weekend against a bad Pittsburgh team to get back into realistic playoff contention. Catching Texas in the AL West would take a miracle, but the Angels are only five games out of the AL's final wild card spot. They're +500 longshots at DraftKings to make the playoffs. If they trade Ohtani, they would be waiving the white flag. Not many fans would show up to Angels home game the rest of the way if that's a consideration for ownership.

Long story short: We should have a much better idea of whether Ohtani is dealt after this weekend. If the Angels sweep, the odds shift even more heavily towards him staying. If they are swept, he's likely gone. We apparently do know one thing: The Angels are not trading him to the hated Dodgers, according to owner Arte Moreno. The Dodgers are the favorites to sign him this winter.

On the mound, the right-hander is 7-5 with a 3.50 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 105.1 innings. He leads the majors in opponent batting average (.192), is tied for fourth in Ks, and is +2000 at DK for the Cy Young Award. Since the start of 2022, he leads majors with 16 games of at least 10 strikeouts. This will be his first career outing vs. the Pirates. DK lists Ohtani at +125 to personally win and over/under 7.5 strikeouts, 4.5 hits and 1.5 earned runs.

Note that Ohtani has been roughed up in back-to-back starts by San Diego and Houston – the former pre-break and the latter last Friday -- and ended up leaving both after five innings due to a blister issue. Starting Monday, the Angels are on the road until the day after the trade deadline. 

At the plate, Ohtani leads the majors with 35 homers (in 97 team games) and is on pace for 58. When Aaron Judge set the AL record with 62 last year, he had 39 home runs through 97 team games. Ohtani also leads MLB in triples (7), total bases (246), XBH (58), slugging percentage (.680) and OPS (1.072). To win MVP, Ohtani is essentially a lock if he stays in the AL at -800, with the field at +500. He's -175 to lead the majors in homers.

For tonight, Ohtani is +320 to go yard and +125 for Over 1.5 total bases. He has never faced Pirates journeyman Johan Oveido.

As an aside: Ohtani can win AL MVP/Cy Young even if traded to the National League, it's simply up to voters. No player has ever won the MVP the year he was traded in-season, even if he stayed in the same league, but Rick Sutcliffe won the 1984 NL Cy Young with the Cubs after a midseason trade from Cleveland.

Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Will Shohei Ohtani be traded by the Aug. 1 deadline?

• No -170
• Yes +130

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