At the All-Star break, two superstar sluggers lead the MVP race, the rookie phenom is in contention for the Cy Young and the American League Central boasts two of the best and worst teams to bet on so far this season. Here are five baseball betting storylines at the break:
Judge, the MVP race tops Ohtani, with Henderson and Harper in hot pursuit
Winners of the last three American League MVP awards, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are the favorites to take home the award this season in the AL and NL. Judge’s -325 odds and Ohtani’s -350 price on ESPN BET have given odds of 76.47% and 77.78%, and both have been odds-on favorites since mid-June.
By the odds, there is only one player in each league who can challenge Judge and/or Ohtani for the crown. In America, it’s breakout star Gunnar Henderson, who brought +300 lines after opening the season at 14-1, which is outside the top six. At Nationals, it’s two-time MVP Bryce Harper, who has dropped from a 12-1 Opening Day line to +475. No other player is closer than 16-1.
Bettors, bookmakers on Paul Skenes watch
Many invested bettors will be watching closely how the Pittsburgh Pirates handled rookie ace Paul Skenes in the second half. Skenes opened about 200-1 to win the National League Cy Young, when he made his MLB debut in early May. He is 6-0 with 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings in 11 starts and is already in contention for the NL Cy Young. As of Tuesday on ESPN BET, Skenes is +450 to win the award, trailing only Chris Sale (+125) and Zack Wheeler (+160), the two consensus favorites. There are more bets on Skenes to win the Cy Young than any other player on ESPN BET.
“Entering the season, it wasn’t clear that the Pirates would allow the rookie to accumulate enough innings, which was a factor in the award,” Patrick Jay, senior vice president and head of sports book for ESPN BET, said in an email. “Through the first half of the year, he allowed himself to play in games, to the surprise of many when he was pulled after seven hitless innings last night. for the Cy Young so far.”
The Cleveland Guardians are amazing
The Guardians are one of the best surprises in the first round of MLB, and that translates into the most profitable money line team so far, because they are up 13.75 units against the money line, according to the odds of ESPN BET, which means that the bettor $ 100 will be. up $1,375. That pales in comparison to last season. The Guardians have the fewest units won at the All-Star break of any leader over the last four seasons, with the San Francisco Giants setting the highest for that period at 24.18 in 2021.
Cleveland opened the season 60-1 to win the World Series and improved to 15-1.
The struggling Chicago White Sox
The Guardians have been profitable, of course, but the best bet in baseball during the first half of the season is the White Sox, who are down 33.95 units against the money line. That means if you bet $100 against the White Sox in each game, you’d be up around $3,200. The most teams have dropped on the money line at the All-Star Break since 2021 are the Arizona Diamondbacks, and no other team this season has dropped more than $2,200 (Miami Marlins).
The White Sox (27-71), who trail the Guardians by 32.5 games in the American League Central, have been favored in an MLB-fewer seven games this season. Entering the season, only three teams have drawn more money from bettors to win the AL than the White Sox at the BetRivers sportsbook. bye
Piters are fortunate
For bettors playing pitching matchups early in the season, there is no better bet than Trevor Williams, who led the Washington Nationals to a record of 9-2 and a profit of 11.15 Units in the game he started. The big caveat is that the 32-year-old has been sidelined since the end of May with an elbow injury, ruling out the possibility of him returning.
For pitchers with at least 16 starts, the top three in earned units are Aaron Nola (up 8.5 units), Shota Imanaga (8.45) and Simeon Woods Richardson (8.45).