MLB Playoffs Betting Guide: World Series odds, best bets, more

The 162-game MLB regular season is finally over and 12 teams have qualified to compete in the MLB playoffs for the chance at a World Series trophy and a diamond-studded ring. 

The MLB playoff format has the top-two seeds in both the National League and American League with first-round byes, while the other eight teams face off in a best-of-three Wild Card series to determine who will advance. 

Below, we’ll break down the current betting odds and give you some of our best bets for the entire MLB playoff run. 

You can see the MLB Playoff bracket here. 

World Series Betting Odds

As of Thursday, October 6th, the World Series odds are as follows, courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook

World Series Best Bet:

Houston Astros (+425) 

Houston has been tremendous all year. Their offense, led by Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, and Alex Bregman may not inspire the fear that last year’s team did, but they ended the regular season ranked fourth in isolated power (ISO) at .176 ISO at were 2nd-best in all of Major League Baseball with a strikeout rate of just 19.5%. Then you add a pitching staff that features Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia, Ryan Pressly, and Lance McCullers Jr., and registered the lowest WHIP (1.09) and ERA (2.90) in the American League.  

The Astros also should have no real problem in the American League. They’ll face the winner of the Toronto Blue Jays or Seattle Mariners in the ALDS, and while neither team should be overlooked, it doesn’t seem like they would pose a major threat. The Astros would then likely face the Yankees in the ALCS, and while Aaron Judge is having a tremendous season, the Astros won five of seven games against the Yankees during the regular season. 

Atlanta Braves (+500)

Last year’s defending champs got hot at the right time and stole the NL East crown from the Mets’ fingertips. They put themselves in a great position as they face the winner of the Phillies and Cardinals in the ALDS. The Braves handled the Phillies relatively well this season, going 11-8 against them, but they did split the season series with the Cardinals, so that might be a much tougher matchup. 

However, the Braves’ pitching staff was also 5th in Major League Baseball in ERA (3.46) this season, 3rd in strikeout rate (26%), and 7th in WHIP (1.19), so they do enough to support an offense that led the majors in ISO (.190) was 2nd in home runs (243), and 2nd in OPS (.761). They did strike out 24.6% during the regular season, which was 28th in all of baseball, so a team with a good pitching staff might be able to take advantage of that. 

New York Mets (+900)

One team whose pitching staff should be good enough is the Mets. Even with Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer sidelined for large portions of the season, the Mets finished 7th in ERA (3.58), 6th in WHIP (1.18), and led all of baseball with a 26.3% strikeout rate. The concern is that their September/October ERA ranked 15th (3.79), their batting average against ranked 16th (.238), and they ranked 19th in home runs per nine innings at 1.15. 

Losing the NL East also means the Mets will need to beat the Padres and then advance past the World Series favorite Los Angeles Dodgers just to get another crack at the Braves. It’s certainly possible with two of the best pitchers in baseball leading the way, but the offense will need to do more than slap a collection of singles like they did against the Braves late in September. 

amNew York Staff Picks

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