Early 2015 Season MLB Betting Predictions That’ll Fall Short

Posted by Alex Murphy on Friday,July 31, 2015 11:00, EDT in

With the second half of the 2015 season well underway, a good number of teams pegged as online sports betting favorites to win their respective divisional titles or even the World Series find themselves in disappointing positions, way below the early season expectations. In large part, this is because a number of the preseason underdogs (like the Houston Astros) have found their way to the top, while some favorites (like the Boston Red Sox) have regressed, with some of them already seeing their title aspirations all but gone. These are some of the early season predictions that are unlikely to come to fruition at the end of the season:

A Look at the Early 2015 Season MLB Betting Predictions That Will Fall Short

Detroit to Win Divisional title

The Tigers seemed too good to fail this season after repeatedly and dominantly winning the AL Central division title for the last four years in a row. Looking at them currently, they are just 50-52 for the season, third-placed in AL Central, which is 11.5 games behind the Royals who lead the division. For a lineup that is loaded with talent like the greatest hitter in the MLB in Miguel Cabrera, a talented pitcher in David Price, and other solid pieces like J.D. Martinez and Yoenis Cespedes, it’s hard to believe that the Tigers have been this regressive. Unfortunately, stars like Alex Castellanos, Ian Kinsler and Victor Martinez have had very little contribution to the team, while Alfredo Simon and Price have been the team’s only consistent options in pitching, which has limited their depth. With the Royals looking stronger than ever, and the Twins (53-48) also not being left far off behind, it is safe to say that the Tigers won’t be winning the AL Central title, as was solidly predicted earlier in the season.

Boston to Reach Playoffs

Lying at the bottom of AL East division with a 45-58 record, 13 games behind the AL-East leading Yankees and logged at dead-last in the AL wild-card race with the worst record in the American League, all those hopes about the Red Sox reaching the playoffs are simply hilarious right now. It has been a year of frustrations for the Red Sox as they have been poor in starting pitching, coupled with bad fielding, weak offense and a lack of leadership that has seen them go from preseason darlings to the center of attention for mockery. The basement slot is not an acceptable place for the Red Sox who have the third-highest payroll of $179 million in the league. As thing stand now, it will be difficult for the team to improve and the Red Sox fans will have to wait and hope for another run in the next season because there’s nothing much they can get out of their pathetically disappointing 2014 season.

San Diego Padres to Win a Wild Card Spot

From the beginning of the season, one was likely to ignore the possibilities of San Diego Padres winning the NL West or the World Series, but it looked obvious that they would at least be able to contend for a wild card spot. Looking at the standings right now, it is a disappointment for the San Diego fans, as the Padres are currently 49-53, which is 7.5 games behind the top wild card spot in the National League. Divisionally, they are 8 games behind the NL West-leading Dodgers, meaning that claiming the divisional title doesn’t look likely as well. Remarkably, a few offseason acquisitions like Derek Norris and Justin Upton have been serviceable for the team. Unfortunately, the likes of Andrew Cashner, Matt Kemp and Wil Myers have been quite disastrous for the Padres for the best part of the season. For such reasons, San Diego has been a bit better on offense, but worse on defense, forcing the team to its dismal showing.

Chicago White Sox to Reach the Postseason Games

The White Sox seemed to have a chance of making it to the postseason games, following the acquisition of Jeff Samardzija (to strengthen the rotation) and David Robertson (stepping in as closer). However, the year has been nothing but disappointing for the White Sox, who are 49-51 in the league standings, 11.5 games behind Kansas City in the divisional ranks and are 7th-placed in the AL wild card race. For some, there would be a bit of some hope that the Red Sox will make the playoffs, considering the likes of Jose Quintana have been doing okay, but with the shockingly terrible performance of Samardzija and others, it doesn’t look like Chicago will close the gap on the division-leading Royals or even find a way to climb up in the AL to claim a wild card spot.