After winning 101 games last season, the Orioles should again be among the best teams in baseball. They return largely the same lineup and will send their new ace Corbin Burnes to the mound against the Angels. The Angels were only 35-46 on the road last season and have a compromised lineup with Shohei Ohtani now on the Dodgers. I’ll pay the juice and take the Orioles to get a win in their first game.

Our suspicion with the Halos is that, at least at the outset, they will not at all miss the glare of Shohei Ohtani. Without the resultant pressure, can the Angels perhaps even flourish? We'll see, but we like new skipper Ron Washington and what seems a player-friendly ship, not to mention having had the Halos run wild in the Cactus League like the haven't since Dick Williams and his jackrabbit Angels of 1975. At the outset, Patrick Sandoval is also capable of a quality start, while Corbin Burnes mikes his Birds debut amid an ominous backdrop in Baltimore with local concerns elsewhere in the harbor the past few days. Play Angels on Money Line

Patrick Sandoval is now the ace of Angels and started out with spring where he went 0-3 in four starts. And in those four starts, he had 16 hits, 12 runs allowed, two home runs, six walks, and struck out 10. Not sure if he's trying out some new things and maybe new pitches and things would be okay on a normal day of pitching, but will they? I think Sandoval's in trouble and he's the reason I'm betting against them. No Shohei Ohtani. Opening day. Orioles to win.

It's a bit sad that a team with Mike Trout could be one of the least interesting clubs in the majors this season, but that's the Angels sans Shohei Ohtani. They start lefty Patrick Sandoval in Thursday's opener, and he was 7-13 with a 4.11 ERA last season. He allowed four runs over five in a loss in his lone 2023 start vs. the Birds, who give former NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes his AL debut. Not many Angels have seen him. Baltimore has been a cash cow at Camden Yards the past two seasons and I see no reason that changes in 2024. This price feels a good 20 cents low at least.

It's going to be cold in B-more Thurs (I live here). The O's lit up Sandoval at The Big A in Sept. and the O's are one of the best home teams in ball. Weird start time and weather for a bad Angels team w/o Ohtani. Burnes in a contract year, with the addition of a second curveball, against an AL that doesn't know him well will be a problem for Angels. Spring training don't matter much ... but it can't hurt the O's almost never lost. O's weak spot might be the pen but no factor here with an ace on the mound and the entire relief staff in full availability. O's took 5 of 6 last year; covered this in 4.