Opening day is baseball is always a big deal, and while the full slate of games is set to go on March 26, we do already have a couple of games in the books. The Seattle Mariners and Oakland A’s got the season started with a pair of games in Japan over the weekends, with Seattle winning both.
The biggest news out of that series, besides the result, was the retirement announcement from Ichiro, which was not totally unexpected. We now have a few days before the full opening day slate of games, so let’s look into the crystal ball to make some MLB Betting predictions on player performances, with the league MVP and Cy Young awards in focus.
2019 MLB Season Odds – MVP & Cy Young Predictions
The sky is the limit for @ABREG_1. pic.twitter.com/qRdLKI1mTj
— MLB (@MLB) 24 de marzo de 2019
MLB MVP Award
Let’s start off by taking a look at the most likely candidates in the American League, starting out with the $430 million man. Mike Trout (+150) has been arguably the best player in the game over the past few seasons and has now committed his future to the LA Angels by signing a mammoth contract. It’s the type of deal that could put a lot of pressure on the average player, but this guy is far from average. He deserves to be the favorite, but I’m not sure he wins it.It was Mookie Betts (+550) who won it last year after hitting .348 for the season with 32 HR and 80 RBI. It’s not very often that we see a player win the MVP in back to back years, but Betts has the tools to do so. Rounding out the top 3 in the AL is Aaron Judge (+700), and while that is a good price, the concern here is whether he can play a full season after missing 40 games last year.
Over in the National League, it is Bryce Harper (+600) who is leading the way in the betting odds. He is another player that made a big money move in the offseason, landing with the Philadelphia Phillies. Harper always hit well in the Phillies ballpark, so that may be enough to see him crank out some big numbers.
Nolan Arenado (+800) hit 38 HR and drove in 110 runs for the Rockies last season and signed a huge deal in the offseason to stay in Colorado. He is a very good bet at this price, but I am looking at Kris Bryant (+1000) as a steal here. I think he can lead the Cubs to another big season and win the MVP in the process.
MLB Cy Young Award
In the AL, it is Corey Kluber (+250) who is in as the favorite, but when you look at last season and see how he ran out of gas coming down the home stretch, I think there are better options on the board. Chris Sale (+300) and Luis Severino (+700) both had good seasons in 2018, but both had injury and consistency issues at times, which kept them from winning the Cy Young. The best price on the board has to be for last years winner Blake Snell at +1600. He was nothing short of outstanding last season and if he gets close to the stats he posted in 2018, he wins again.It’s the usual cast of characters on top of the betting board in the NL, with Max Scherzer leading the way at +250, closely followed by Jacob DeGrom (+350). Both are solid picks, although Scherzer seems like the better option. Right behind those two are Aaron Nola (+900) and Clayton Kershaw (+1000). Scherzer seems like the obvious bet here, but I might take a chance on Kershaw at excellent odds.
