The Atlanta Braves got a boost on Tuesday as star Ronald Acuna Jr made his first rehab appearance with Triple-A Gwinnett. He has been working to return from a torn ACL, and he started the night with a fly ball to center. In his second at-bat, he smacked a double off the right-center field wall, and then grounded out to third in his last at-bat. He played right field for the first five innings. At this writing, it looks like Acuna would return in May, and the Braves begin a homestand on May 6. However, Acuna is optimistic that he will return even sooner than that, reporting that his knee is “ready to go” in a postgame interview. As we look at the MLB betting odds for each team to win the World Series as of April 20, we will also talk about some recent developments for several teams.
MLB News: Updated Odds to Win the World Series
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| L.A. Dodgers | +500 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | +800 |
| Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox, N.Y. Mets | +1000 |
| N.Y. Yankees | +1100 |
| Atlanta Braves | +1200 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | +1400 |
| Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres | +1600 |
| Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants | +2000 |
| Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, L.A. Angels | +2500 |
| Seattle Mariners | +3000 |
| Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins | +5000 |
| Miami Marlins, Cleveland Guardians | +8000 |
| Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals | +10000 |
| Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies | +15000 |
| Oakland A’s | +20000 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles | +25000 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | +50000 |
The Dodgers got a lot of buzz out of Clayton Kershaw throwing seven perfect innings before being lifted due to pitch count restrictions, but the bigger story might be Andrew Heaney, who fanned 11 against Cincinnati on Sunday. In two starts, he has struck out 15 while permitting only four hits. Rotation depth was one of the few questions facing the Dodgers this season, so if Heaney delivers, that could be huge down the stretch.
The White Sox have won every series so far this season. One problem for the Palehose last year was that they had a hard time facing top teams, which generally means an early playoff exit. However, they have beaten Tampa Bay and Seattle in impressive series so far in 2022. Michael Kopech and Dylan Cease have also started the year in solid fashion.
Don’t look now, but San Francisco is surging again. The starting rotation has terrific depth, so if all five of these guys can stay healthy, the Giants might not have the regression that we predicted in the off-season.
The Mets are another team playing better than projected to this point. Losing starter Jacob deGrom to injury looked like a real problem, but Tylor Megill has filled in nicely. In his first two starts, he has not walked a batter, and he has not permitted a run. The rest of the rotation – Carlos Carrasco, David Peterson, Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt – has also thrown extremely well.
Toronto is already getting the hitting that we projected, led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. However, the Blue Jays’ pitching still is a work under construction, at least as far as front-runners go. Once the starters go later in games, then we’ll see about them making a deep playoff run.
Houston has gotten a slow start from the bats, but Yordan Alvarez is still suffering from illness, and Jeremy Pena is still dealing with the expectations of taking over Carlos Correa’s spot. He’s young and full of potential, and it’s still April.
Yes, Atlanta lost a series at home to a Washington team that, at least to this point, has otherwise failed to live up to the dark-horse status that we projected. Matt Olson is playing terrific ball right now, though, and Ronald Acuna JR will return soon.
San Diego fans had to be wondering when Eric Hosmer would start hitting, and the first baseman has been raking so far. He finds the sweet spot 44% of the time and posted an expected batting average of .320. His barrel rate is in the bottom first percentile for qualified hitters, though, so some regression may be on the way.
MLB Betting Odds
Love betting on baseball like in the MLB? | Xbet Sportsbook offers up to date MLB betting Odds for all Regular Season, Playoffs, and World Series games.
