We’re still about a month away from Major League Baseball’s All-Star break, but we have some trends that look like they might actually hold. The Tampa Bay Rays started 20-3, but then they went 20-15 in their next 35 games. At 40-18, they still lead the American League East, but they’ve settled back to earth, with the Yankees in third place in the division, just six games back.
All of the AL East teams are above .500 right now, so it will be interesting to see how this sorts out. Last-place Boston (29-27) would only be a half-game out of first if they played in the AL Central, for example. The tightest division right now is the National League Central, as no team has shown they want to pull away with it – but with no team starting out playing dreadful ball, either. The Milwaukee Brewers (29-27) currently lead the division, a half-game ahead of Pittsburgh, while the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs are tied for last, just 4 ½ games back. As we think about MLB betting on some futures wagers in baseball, here are some ideas to consider.
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What about the MVP award?
This is one of the most exciting awards, as buzz builds throughout the entire season. In the American League, Aaron Judge (+600) is the defending MVP after his slugging exploits in The Bronx last season. He currently leads the American League with 18 long balls, two behind the Mets’ Pete Alonso for the Major League Baseball lead.
Only three behind Judge, though, is the prohibitive favorite in the junior circuit at this point – the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani. He has 15 home runs and 38 RBI (just one behind Judge). Ohtani is also a starting pitcher, and the DH rule was amended to allow him to maximize his opportunities to hit while also pitching. He has a 5-1 record and a 2.91 ERA, making him a real dual-threat player. He consistently receives comparisons to Babe Ruth in terms of accomplishments as a pitcher and a hitter, but it’s important to remember that Ruth only pitched for a few seasons, moving to the outfield (in Ruth’s era, there was no designated hitter, so in order to bat, he had to appear in the field). If Ohtani can continue to pitch at a dominant level and key the Angels’ offense, no one will be able to catch him in this race, even if the Angels as a team continue to underperform. At -145, Ohtani really doesn’t offer much in the way of value, though, and he’s just one injury away from falling out of the race.
In the National League, the favorite right now is Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr (+140). Acuna is third in the National League in batting average (.324) with 11 home runs and 31 RBI. Right behind him is the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman (+550).
Freeman is hitting .346, 22 points better than Acuna, with 10 home runs and 35 RBI. Freeman is playing on a Dodgers team that is tied for first in the NL West (with Arizona, of all teams), while Acuna’s Braves are in first place in the NL East, 3 ½ games ahead of the Mets. Obviously, Freeman is playing in the bigger market (Los Angeles), but he has to share attention with a lot of other Dodgers, while Acuna is a bigger fish in a somewhat smaller bowl in Atlanta, despite their history of success. An interesting dark horse in the NL MVP battle is Bryce Harper (+2500), who is simply waiting to get hot in Philadelphia.
The Phillies got hot in the second half, especially the last quarter, of the 2022 season, and they could do it again, behind Harper’s bat. There’s also Fernando Tatis Jr (+2500) who has only appeared in 36 games with the Padres but already has nine home runs among his 39 hits on the season, currently batting .253 with 23 RBI. If his numbers can take off and the Padres can make a run in the NL West, then he will start climbing the odds list.
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