MLB Postseason Is Here: Best Bets To Make

MLB Postseason Is Here: Best Bets To Make

Cole Paganelli
2 years ago
3 min read
MLB Postseason Is Here: Best Bets To Make

After the exciting grind of the 162-game season, MLB is down to ten remaining teams. As the Wild Card rounds get set to kick off on Tuesday, the next few weeks are a baseball fan’s dream as postseason baseball brings out the best in teams.

With all ten teams trying to stake a claim as MLB’s best, let's take a look at some of the best bets to make for the postseason.

St. Louis +190 over Los Angeles

Look, there is a reason that the Dodgers (+390) are the favorite to win the World Series this year. Even with Clayton Kershaw injured, their rotation is built for the postseason with Max Scherzer, Walker Buehler, and Julio Urias.

Given their superior postseason rotation, the Cardinals are probably thrilled to get them in a one-game series where truly anything can happen. 

For St. Louis, they are sending Adam Wainwright to the mound. This season, he is 17-7 with a 3.05 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and has 174 strikeouts in 206.1 innings pitched. In his last seven games, he is 5-0 with a 2.89 ERA.

Furthermore, the Cardinals have been arguably the hottest team in baseball to end the season. They went 19-3 in their last 22 games played.

Granted, the last time that Scherzer faced St. Louis, he dominated them going eight innings and striking out 13, but this is a completely different team than the one he saw on September 6. 

Also, Scherzer is also coming off of back-to-back rough outings as he allowed five runs in each of his last two starts. On September 29, against San Diego, he allowed five runs on 11 hits while striking out four.

A lot of times, postseason bets are about getting the most value, and there is plenty of value in a red-hot Cardinals team at +190.

Take Milwaukee Over Atlanta at -140

Of the five teams in the National League, the Atlanta Braves, winner of the NL East, has the worst record of the bunch. At 88-73, the Braves trailed the division for much of the season before finally pulling away at the end.

On paper, the Brewers simply stack up better in this matchup, mostly because of the pitching. For as solid as Charlie Morton and Max Fried have been (the first two starters for Atlanta), the Brewers can turn to Corbin Burnes (11-5, 2.43 ERA), Brandon Woodruff (9-10, 2.56 ERA), Freddy Peralta (10-5, 2.81 ERA), Adrian Houser (10-6, 3.22 ERA) or even Eric Lauer (7-5, 3.19 ERA).

Long story short, the Brewers have one of the best pitching staffs in the majors. They rank third in team ERA (3.48), and they rank third in scoring defense (allowing 3.85 runs per game to opponents).

The bullpen did take a bit of a hit as Devin Williams (8-2, 2.50 ERA) is out after breaking his hand, but with Josh Hader at the back, they are still lethal.

It is worth noting that anything can happen in a short, five-game series, but on paper, the Brewers just have the pitching to overwhelm and shut down a solid, but not spectacular, Atlanta Braves team.

San Francisco Giants or Tampa Bay Rays To Win World Series

Again, postseason bets are often about getting the best value, and there might not be any better value than in the Giants and the Rays. Despite having the best records in their respective divisions, and the best record overall for the Giants, they are still just tied for third in terms of best odds to win the World Series at +550.

For the Giants, they have been the underdogs all season long despite having the best record in baseball. Even as recent as a week ago many publications put the Dodgers at similar, if not better, odds to win the division.

In response, the Giants went on to an MLB-best 107-55 record. They dominated both at home (54-27) and on the road (53-28) and are near the top in most statistical categories both offensively and defensively.

Based on the odds, the Giants keep being taken lightly, and that might be exactly the way they like it. At +550, there is a lot of value there.

For the Rays, they are trying to make their second World Series in as many years. At 100-62, they were the only team in the AL to reach the 100-win plateau, and they rank second in runs per game (5.29) and fifth in runs allowed per game (4.02).

Like the Giants, there is a lot of value in Tampa Bay +550.

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