There's still a lot of baseball to be played, but here are the frontrunners for the top individual awards
Just past the one-third mark of the 2022 MLB regular season, the Atlanta Braves are finally showing their championship pedigree, while a pair of traditional powers from rival coasts look World Series worthy.
The Braves (+1100 to win the 2022 World Series, all odds courtesy of DraftKings) through Tuesday are riding a 13-game winning streak, two off the club record set in 2000. Yet, despite Atlanta’s much-improved play following a slow start, while sitting on some vital playoff experience, a handful of teams still have better title odds.
FrontPageBets takes a look ...
The two teams with the shortest price to win it all are the Los Angeles Dodgers (+450) and the New York Yankees (+500), which would be a big-market championship duel straight from MLB’s wildest dream.
Nobody has shorter odds than the Dodgers, who have not exactly used the opening 2 1/2 months to their advantage. There are health concerns up and down a pitching staff, which has pushed itself at least to the National League Championship Series in six of the last nine seasons.
The Yankees have made two American League Championship Series visits in the past five seasons, but have not set foot inside the World Series since 2009. Through 60 games they had the best record in baseball (44-16) thanks to one of the best pitching staffs and offenses in the game.
Showing their promise
Despite entering 2022 as defending champions, the Braves still had something to prove. Under an awkward set of circumstances, Freddie Freeman ended up departing via free agency, although the addition of Matt Olson provided a smooth transition.
Ronald Acuna Jr. is back from his ACL injury that cost him most of 2021, although Ozzie Albies is now dealing with a fractured foot. But if there is one thing Atlanta showed last season, it was an ability to adjust on the fly.
The Dodgers were still a first-place team into the middle of June, but staff ace Walker Buehler (forearm) is on the injured list, while Clayton Kershaw and Andrew Heaney have dealt with their own injuries, as has key setup man Blake Treinen.
If the Yankees have a concern, it is with staff ace Gerrit Cole, who entered the middle of June with the highest ERA among the team’s five starters at 3.63. Outside of that though, New York is doing just fine with the best ERA in baseball (2.85), the most home runs (98) and the third most runs scored (307).
In their second season without George Springer and their first without Carlos Correa, the Houston Astros (+650) continue to find ways to win, thanks to a pitching staff that had a 3.07 ERA on June 14, lower than any team but the Yankees and Dodgers.
The New York Mets (+750) also have found a way to win without Jacob deGrom and with Max Scherzer missing a month so far. And the Toronto Blue Jays (+900) have forged their way despite a recent injury to lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu.
The longest price on any first-place team in mid-June belonged to the Minnesota Twins (+3500), who have made waves with Byron Buxton and Correa back-to-back in the lineup.
What happened?
A popular preseason pick for AL World Series participant was the upstart Chicago White Sox (+2800). But the White Sox have gone south on the Southside of Chicago with injuries, inconsistencies and questionable in-game decision-making under manager Tony La Russa.
The San Diego Padres (+1300) have managed to contend in a lackluster NL West, even without Fernando Tatis Jr., while the Milwaukee Brewers (+1500) have given mixed signals with a playoff-worthy roster that endured an eight-game losing streak in June. The St. Louis Cardinals (+3000) lead the NL Central, but haven't gained much oddsmaker interest. Read more on the Cardinals from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.Â
The Tampa Bay Rays (+2500) played in the 2021 World Series, while the San Francisco Giants (+2500) had the best record in the regular season last year, with both showing flashes of their recent elite play. The Rays await the return of SS Wander Franco and 2B Brandon Lowe.
While the Los Angeles Angels (+6000) were a team to watch with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, a losing streak that reached a franchise-record 14 games spelled the end of manager Joe Maddon’s tenure.
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