There are less than two months to go in the MLB regular season, with the playoffs starting on Tuesday, Oct. 3, with the AL Wild-Card Game and the NL game the next night. The 113th World Series will begin Oct. 24 on FOX at the home of the league champion with the better regular-season record. The latest MLB odds to win the World Series are looking very interesting. With that in mind, here are a few MLB betting predictions for what to expect the rest of the regular season.
Altuve also set a club record for batting average in a single calendar month, as his .485 batting average in July topped Richard Hidalgo’s .476 (49×103) mark he posted in Sept. of 2000. New York Yankees rookie Aaron Judge was the MVP favorite entering the All-Star break but has slumped in the second half. He’ll win Rookie of the Year, but Altuve is the MVP.
MLB Betting Predictions for Last Two Months of the Regular Season
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— MLB (@MLB) August 11, 2017
Dodgers Won’t Set MLB Wins Record
The Los Angeles Dodgers are nearly on pace to break the MLB wins record of 116, set by the 1906 Chicago Cubs and the 2001 Seattle Mariners. It should be noted that neither of those teams won the World Series – the Mariners didn’t even make it. Earlier this month the Dodgers finished a stretch where they won 43 out of 50 games, the best 50-game stretch in the major leagues since 1912. In July they set the record for most consecutive wins in games in which they held a lead at any point during the contest, breaking a 111-year- old record set by Cubs in 1906.Can They Get to 116 Wins?
I’m here to tell you that the Dodgers aren’t getting to 116 wins. The franchise record of 105 could definitely fall. That was set by the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers. The high since the franchise moved to L.A. was 102 in 1974. Los Angeles is going to take its foot off the gas in September with the top overall seed in the playoffs wrapped up. It’s way more important to make sure guys are rested and healthy (especially getting Clayton Kershaw back from injury) entering October than trying to chase some wins record. Just ask the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors of the NBA about that. One guarantee about the Dodgers, though: Cody Bellinger is a lock for NL Rookie of the Year and could win NL MVP too. L.A. is +190 to win its first World Series since 1988.Updated 2017 MLB Postseason Predictions After Trade Deadline
Jose Altuve Wins AL MVP
No second baseman has won the AL MVP since Boston’s Dustin Pedroia in 2008 and no Astro has ever won AL MVP – Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell was the 1994 NL MVP. But I’m here to tell you that Houston second baseman Jose Altuve, all 5-foot-6 of him, will be this year’s winner. Altuve has a huge lead for the overall batting title, currently at .364. The last MLB player to post a batting average this high was Joe Mauer (.365) during his 2009 AL MVP campaign. Altuve leads the AL in WAR (6.3), on-base percentage (.426), hits (156) and total bases (246).What Else Has Jose Altuve Done For The Astros?
He leads MLB road batting average with a .431 mark. That would rank as the 2nd-highest single season road batting average, trailing only Harry Heilmann (.456, 1925 Tigers).
Altuve also set a club record for batting average in a single calendar month, as his .485 batting average in July topped Richard Hidalgo’s .476 (49×103) mark he posted in Sept. of 2000. New York Yankees rookie Aaron Judge was the MVP favorite entering the All-Star break but has slumped in the second half. He’ll win Rookie of the Year, but Altuve is the MVP.
There Will Be More Trades
The non-waiver trade deadline was July 31 in baseball, but that doesn’t mean there won’t still be trades. It’s just that guys either have to clear waivers or be dealt to the team who claimed him; that deadline is Aug. 31. Injuries will force contenders to make a move. For example, this week the Cleveland Indians put outfielder Michael Brantley on the disabled list for the second time due to an ankle injury. So the Tribe, the defending AL champions and with a limited window for a championship, acquired outfielder Jay Bruce from the Mets for a low-level prospect. Bruce, a three-time All-Star, is hitting .258 with 29 homers and 75 RBIs this year. The Indians have not gotten much pop out of their outfield bats, as their 37 combined homers rank them 25th among outfields in baseball. For the Mets, they weren’t going to re-sign Bruce given that Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes are likely locked into the outfield corners in 2018. Expect teams like the Mets to keep selling off free agents – Curtis Granderson, Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera also come to mind – and teams like the Indians to plug holes where necessary. Even a big name like Detroit’s Justin Verlander could be on the move and be the difference in a team making the playoffs or not.Latest 2017 World Series Odds
- Arizona Diamondbacks: +1800
- Atlanta Braves: +20000
- Baltimore Orioles: +5500
- Boston Red Sox: +600
- Chicago Cubs: +600
- Cleveland Indians: +625
- Colorado Rockies: +2100
- Detroit Tigers: +12500
- Houston Astros: +400
- Kansas City Royals: +2500
- LA Angels: +6000
- LA Dodgers: +250
- Miami Marlins: +35000
- Milwaukee Brewers: +3000
- Minnesota Twins: +6600
- NY Mets: +25000
- NY Yankees: +800
- Pittsburgh Pirates: +6000
- Seattle Mariners: +4000
- St. Louis Cardinals: +5500
- Tampa Bay Rays: +3500
- Texas Rangers: +10000
- Toronto Blue Jays: +8000
- Washington Nationals: +600
