Sitting with the best record in Major League Baseball at 57-29, the Los Angeles Dodgers are set to be in a third straight World Series and actually win this time — well, this at least according to the odds-makers.
Not only do they have the best record though, they also have the highest win tally and also hold the No. 1 winning percentage in the league. They’ve done all of this at the halfway point, just right outside of the All-Star break. Playing the dominant brand of baseball that they have so far, it’s no shocker why the Dodgers sit on top of the odds.
Placed behind Los Angeles on Bovada, you have the New York Yankees sitting with a figure of +350, and the Houston Astros have themselves with a number of +360.
The Boston Red Sox stumbled out of the gate to begin their first half, and they’re stumbling playing .500 ball at 44-40. Still though, with Boston being Boston, it’s hard to discount them from any defense of their 2018 World Series championship. Not only do they have one of the best starting rotations in Major League Baseball, but their consists of a healthy balance of veteran leadership and young talent. I’d be surprised if the Red Sox never got it going in 2019.
With that being said, I would go ahead and take advantage of their misery and place a bet on their hefty +2000 odds. If they do win the World Series, that number will pay off nicely, so go ahead and place that wager now just in case they do get it together (which they should) and their odds become less profitable.
Another team and their large odds to take advantage of are the St. Louis Cardinals and their +3000 figure, a team who is just a couple of solid pitchers away from being a legitimate World Series contender. They might be playing .500 ball right now at 41-41, but they’re only 3.0 games back of the National League Central division lead. If they can make some moves before the trade deadline and get on a roll, those +300 odds will be very profitable.
If you want, you can wait a little bit longer on this bet to see if their odds increase a bit more for additional profitability, I look for the Cardinals to really go on a roll to shoot them in the odds around September — possibly late August. So you have a few more weeks to play around, that’s if they work some magic and pull in a pitcher or two through the trade market. Interesting bet indeed with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Two teams that shot up in the odds since the beginning of the season have been the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins, both sitting at +800 in the odds after they each hold the lead in their divisions — the Braves lead the National League East, while the Twins hold the American League Central.
Though they haven’t been as hot as they have been, the Twins still have a very successful winning percentage of .654, and this is nearly 80 games into the season — pretty good for the small-market ball club. With that being said, however, I would stay away from their +800 odds. I don’t see that profitable at all with the Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox all in the American League.
Let’s go over the full list of odds of who will come out on top when everything is said and done. We’ll go in depth specifically on the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Houston Astros — the three power brands that have been dominating opposition this season. If one of those teams don’t win the World Series, I’ll be shocked. But at the same time, dark horse teams like the Atlanta Braves can always pull off an upset in a magical game like baseball.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been magnificent this season, sitting with the best record in baseball by a solid three games over the New York Yankees, and they also have a seven-game edge in the National League. And boy, have they been dominant at Dodger Stadium this season, holding a flashy and sexy record of dominance at 34-9. As much as I love that, however, I can’t help but pick on their road record. Near .500 at 23-20, that could be problematic when Los Angeles arrives in October (again). That needs to be cleaned up. Fortunately for them, we’re only in early July and there’s plenty of time to do so.
Leading the assault for this year’s Dodgers has been Cody Bellinger, putting up MVP-type numbers that sees him leading L.A. in batting average, home runs and runs batted in — his average sits at an insane .346. His home run tally is near the 30-mark at the halfway point at 27, and he’s near 70 RBI’s with 67 total. It’s been a great year for Bellinger, to say the least. On the pitching side, it’s been Hyun-Jin Ryu and Walker Buehler doing the damage for Los Angeles. Ryu leads the Dodgers in earned run average (1.83) and wins (9), while Buehler leads L.A. in strikeouts over the 100 mark at 104.
In total, the Dodgers have had a very potent offense this year, ranking sixth in Major League Baseball in runs scored with 459. Their batting average has been solid this year as well, tallying a .267 average. That is followed with an impressive .347 on-base percentage, and the slugging percentage hasn’t been too shabby either sitting at .473. Los Angeles’ pitching has been pretty good as well, posting up an earned run average of 3.41. They’ve also tallied 48 quality starts, a 1.10 WHIP, as well as a .226 BAA. Pretty good numbers for the Dodgers this season.
They certainly have what it takes to get back to a third straight World Series, and with how dominant they’ve been this season, that could be the case. The biggest question for Los Angeles is: Can they win it though? Well, they’re currently the favorites to do so in the odds, and they’ve certainly been playing like it this season. This Dodgers team does have a different feel than the past two seasons, so we could be looking at this year’s champions, folks. They just need to get over the hump of the American League.
A little more balanced with their home and away record, the New York Yankees have exploded to a 54-28 season thus far into the campaign. At Yankee Stadium, they carry a flashy 31-14 home record, and they’ve been pretty solid on the road as well with a 23-14 away record. On top of that, New York has been hot as of late, winning nine out of their last 10 games. They’ve also built up a nice 6.5 game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East, and they’re also a lengthy 11.0 games over their rival Boston Red Sox. Even though the Los Angeles Dodgers have the best record in baseball, I can’t help but to side with the Yankees to win the 2019 World Series.
DJ LeMahieu and Gary Sanchez have been putting in the work offensively for the New York Yankees this season. LeMahieu leads the team in both batting average and runs batted in — his tallies are .345 AVG and 61 RBI’s, he also adds 12 HR’s to the stat sheet. Speaking of home runs, leading that category is Gary Sanchez with a total of 23 on the season. On the staff of arms, it’s Masahiro Tanaka and Domingo German leading the way for the Yankees. Tanaka holds the earned run average statistic with a figure of 3.74, and he also has a team-leading 85 strikeouts. German holds the win category with a total of nine.
The Yankees come in with the most potent offense in Major League Baseball, ranking No. 1 in runs with a total of 476. Their other numbers have been good as well, posting up a .267 batting average, a .343 on base percentage, and they’ve also put up a .466 slugging percentage. Needless to say, they’ve definitely earned their ‘Bronx Bombers’ nickname this season, especially after hitting a home run in 31 straight games. On the pitching end, the numbers could be a bit better, but that just shows you how good the hitting has been that they carry a dominant 54-28 record. In earned run average, they have a tally of 4.24, while compiling 26 quality starts, a 1.29 WHIP, and a .247 BAA — definitely need to get those numbers up.
With the talent that New York has, however, on the pitching staff, I’m not too concerned. The talent is there and I expect the pitching to progress and get better. With that being said, when the pitching hits its peak and goes along with the power hitting that the Yankees have, I can see New York being nearly unbeatable when we get to postseason baseball in October. I love the Los Angeles Dodgers and what they’re doing this year, but I have to ride with the New York Yankees as your 2019 World Series champion.
The Houston Astros, World Series champions from two seasons ago, have been one of the best teams in baseball all season long and are poised for another deep run in the Major League Baseball playoffs. The Astros have a similar problem as the Los Angeles Dodgers though, and that’s their .500 performance on the road. Though they have a flashy 31-13 record at home in Texas, Houston suffers a bit on the road, only hovering slightly above. 500 at 22-19. They’ll need to clean that up if they hope for two World Series in three years, that won’t do them good in the postseason.
On the batting side, it’s been Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman doing the majority of the production for the Astros. Brantley leads Houston in batting average with a tally of .313, while Bregman leads in home runs (22) and runs batted in (52). On the pitching end, it’s (of course) Justin Verlander, and Gerrit Cole has been deadly for the Astros as well. Verlander leads the team in earned run average and wins, and they’ve been sexy numbers — he has a 2.86 ERA with 10 wins. Cole has been absolutely extraordinary in the strikeout category, leading the team with an insane 161 strikeouts — he also adds a dominant eight wins and a 3.28 ERA on the stat sheet as well. The Astros pitching staff certainly has been on point this season, that’s for sure.
The Astros also have a pretty potent offense this year as well like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. For the season, Houston has put up a total of 426 runs, and they’ve also posted a .267 batting average, .342 on base percentage, and a hefty .468 slugging percentage. The numbers have also been flashy on the pitching end as well, putting up a 3.83 earned run average. They also have numbers of 48 quality starts, a 1.12 WHIP, and they also have a .218 BAA. The Astros definitely have the talent and numbers to win that second World Series in three years, but I still have the ride with the Yankees over Houston in this one.
With that being said, however, I don’t have the Houston Astros that far behind the New York Yankees as my favorite to win the World Series — similar to the odds-makers. I’ve even debated with myself about putting the Astros over the Yankees, but this year’s New York team (similar to Los Angeles) just has a different vibe about them, and those young players seem ready to win — and win big. I have to ride with the New York Yankees to win the championship. Still, the Houston Astros will make a deep run in the postseason.
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