"3 straight losses my word" "Jeez. Morton vs. Ohtani on a Friday night in ATL?" - MLB fans react to pitching matchups ahead of the 3-game series between Los Angeles Angels and Atlanta Braves

The defending World Series champions Atlanta Braves will play host to one of the most must-see players in all of baseball. Atlanta will host Shohei Ohtani and his Los Angeles Angels for a three-game series starting on Friday, July 22.

It will be the first time that Ohtani will face the Atlanta Braves in his major league career. This will also be the first series between the two squads since 2017.

Surprisingly, the Angels have a slight advantage in terms of wins. They've won eight games compared to the Braves' seven in 15 regular-season games. Fans from both teams, of course, have made their predictions on how the series will play out.

Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to open the series against Charlie Morton. The Angels Patrick Sandoval and Reid Detmers were assigned to start opposite Kyle Wright and Ian Anderson on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

The reigning American League MVP has been superb in pitching for the Angels this year. Ohtani has a 9-4 record with and an ERA of 2.38 in 15 starts. Shotime has won his last six starts for the team.

Dubiously, the Angels have only won three of their last 16 games, and all of those wins were credited to an Ohtani start.

Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels fans sound off on the highly anticipated matchup of the teams

Charlie Morton has been tasked with a duel with Shohei Ohtani on the mound for the series-opener. The hurler is carrying a 5-4 win-loss card with a 4.45 ERA.

Braves fans have already raised concerns with the series, especially about the first game. Max Fried has been mentioned a lot and fans are speculating why he isn't starting against his fellow MLB All-Star in Ohtani.

Nevertheless, the Atlanta Braves could still rely on their offense and bullpen production as a contingency plan. The Braves are fourth in both OPS and bullpen ERA this season at .757 and 3.14, respectively.

Their bats have heated up and a resurgence has beckoned for Atlanta. They have won 14 of their last 20 games thanks to superb batting and efficient bullpen work.

All eyes, of course, will be on Shohei Ohtani as he struts his stuff at Truist Park. The Angels need a massive turnaround to save their season and who better to kick it off than their star man.

This series is a battle of the champions trying to rise back to the top of their division against a flailing team as of late. The first pitch is at 7:20 p.m. EDT.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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