Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Los Angeles Dodgers have a bigger division lead than any team in baseball as they continue to post MLB’s best record overall. In fact, the Dodgers are now massive -100000 favorites (bet $100,000 to win $100) to take home their seventh consecutive National League West title this year at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
They were -20000 favorites leading up to the MLB All-Star break and have only increased their lead. Winning the NL West is obviously not the main goal for Los Angeles though, as the team is hoping a third straight World Series appearance will be the charm and result in a championship.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants were both 15.5 games out of the division lead heading into Tuesday’s action, and the best each of them can realistically try for is a Wild Card berth at this point. The Diamondbacks and Giants are +6000 to win the NL West (bet $100 to win $6000) while the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres are much longer shots at +10000 apiece.
The most competitive divisional race remains in the NL Central, where the Chicago Cubs have a small lead on the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers. A dismal road record has hurt the Cubs and might end up costing them the division, especially with the Cardinals coming on strong and the defending NL Central champion Brewers still lurking.
Chicago is a narrow +110 favorite to win the division with Milwaukee the +205 second choice and St. Louis right behind them at +220 at online betting sites. That was the same order on the board before the break, with the Cardinals previously +325.
The NL East race is also intriguing because the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies have a solid chance of earning a Wild Card spot even if they do not catch the division-leading Atlanta Braves, who are listed as strong -800 favorites. The Braves were -200 favorites before the All-Star break, but they have increased their lead too.
The Phillies have some value at +1100 to win the NL East because they still have a lot of talent led by Bryce Harper but need to get better pitching down the stretch in order to make a run. Harper’s former team the Nationals are in the mix as well at +500 thanks to strong pitching, especially Max Scherzer, who is eyeing a fourth Cy Young Award. Philadelphia was +175 prior to the All-Star break with Washington jumping from +1500.
Check out OddsShark on Twitter and Instagram or head to YouTube for analysis on this week’s top games. As well, the OddsShark Computer serves up daily MLB picks for bettors.
