MLB Betting Dodgers Second Half of a World Series Underlay

Major League Baseball had a great All-Star Break. Heading into the second half, the favorite to win the World Series and the second choice offer underlay odds. Also, an Angel has become a lock to win the AL MVP. Check out the latest MLB betting news in our baseball update.

Latest 2021 MLB Betting News & Rumors July 13th Edition

2021 MLB Season

When: Thursday, April 1 – Friday, October 1
Where: Various

2021 World Series Odds

Los Angeles Dodgers +340

New York Yankees +2000

San Diego Padres +650

Tampa Bay Rays +1000

Atlanta Braves +2800

Minnesota Twins +35000

Chicago White Sox +550

Oakland Athletics +1600

Houston Astros +450

Cleveland Indians +5000

Cincinnati Reds +3300

Chicago Cubs +8000

New York Mets +850

Washington Nationals +7000

St. Louis Cardinals +5000

Toronto Blue Jays +2200

Philadelphia Phillies +4500

L.A. Angels +6600

Milwaukee Brewers +1200

Boston Red Sox +1000

Miami Marlins +27500

San Francisco Giants +1000

Arizona Diamondbacks +400000

Colorado Rockies +350000

Seattle Mariners +6000

Baltimore Orioles +450000

Detroit Tigers +50000

Kansas City Royals +85000

Texas Rangers +350000

Pittsburgh Pirates +350000

Dodgers head into second half of the season the chalk even though Bauer’s situation hasn’t changed

Heading into the second half, the Los Angeles Dodgers are an underlay +340 choice to win the World Series even though they face a couple of headwinds. The first headwind? The Trevor Bauer situation won’t go away.

Bauer is likely to have thrown his last pitch of the season. The Dodgers, no doubt, have a rotation that can pick up the pieces, but the NL West is deep, which brings up to the second reason LAD is an underlay to win the World Series.

The San Francisco Giants, who lead the Dodgers by 2 games, and the San Diego Padres, who are 5 games behind the Giants heading into the second half, start rotations that may be better than Los Angeles’.

Giants’ ace Kevin Gausman has a 1.73 ERA. Anthony DeSclafani’s ERA is 2.68 and Johnny Cueto’s is 4.15. Alex Wood, listed fourth in the rotation, is 8-3 with a 3.67 ERA.

The Padres also have a strong rotation. Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Blake Snell, and Dinelson Lamet can all throw.

There’s no guarantee the Dodgers win their division, much less the World Series, which is why at their current odds, LAD is an underlay.

Astros become outright second choice to win the World Series

World Series odds on the Houston Astros have dropped to an amazingly low +450. The Stros entered the season an underdog to win the Fall Classic. There was also the overhang of having stolen signs in their 2017 World Series victory. In addition, team leader George Springer fled to the Toronto Blue Jays.

But even with the all the questions, Houston has played great. The main reason Houston is such a short-priced second choice? The rotation is stacked. Zack Greinke should be in the Hall one of these days, Framber Valdez is 5-1 with a 2.98 ERA, Lance McCullers Jr. is 6-2 with a 2.94 ERA, and Jose Urquidy, listed fourth in the rotation, has a 3.41 ERA.

The Stros also rank first in runs per with 5.45, first in batting average, 2.69, and first in OPS 4.83. Does that make Houston an overlay to win the Series?

Nope. Even though Houston’s rotation and lineup rock, the bullpen ranks sixteenth in team ERA. If the Astros must turn to their bullpen during the playoffs, there’s the chance the BP blows it.

Shohei Ohtani is a -350 chalk to win AL MVP, Mets’ deGrom the chalk to win the NL MVP

Heading into the second half of the season, Shohei Ohtani is huge favorite to win the AL MVP. Ohtani’s odds are at -350.

The 6’ 4” and 210 lbs. player sports a .279 batting average, hit 33 home runs, and drove in 70 runs in the first half of the season. He also produced a 3.49 ERA in 67 innings thrown.

The two-way player is doing something no other MLB star has done since, maybe, Babe Ruth. A lot of seasons have passed since the Babe threw from the mound and blasted home runs from the batter’s box.

Over in the NL, Jacob deGrom remains the MVP chalk. deGrom has a 1.08 ERA and has struck out 146 batters in 92 innings. So if deGrom keeps it up, winning both the Cy Young and MVP this season is a possibility.

I have read enough, I need to place my bet now. What to do?