MLB Championship Series Bets

This has been a phenomenal playoffs for the MLB. Maybe you hate it, maybe you love it. I'm in the camp of, we've made a lot of money and I'm happy for it. We won all of our series futures and we are somewhere around 7-3 for the daily plays. It has been great for us from that perspective, and honestly, I'm fine with the teams that are winning. Look, I get it - the Braves were great for 162 games but worthless for four games against the Phillies. It is the same way in every sport though. Same with the Dodgers, Orioles, and even the Rays. There is no need to fix anything with maybe the exception of seven-game series, but, again, even if the series was seven games, the Diamondbacks would've been up 3-0, the Phillies up 3-1, and the Rangers up 3-0. Now, we have just four teams remaining and all four have had good seasons as well, so let's respect who was here and not try to accommodate teams that couldn't get it done.

Astros vs. Rangers

Houston is the World Series champ from last season and looks to repeat this year. I can't tell you the number of people who have told me something along the lines of "Anyone but Houston." when asked about who they want to win. Frankly, it doesn't matter. The Astros have solid pitching with Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, and Cristian Javier leading the way. Their hitting is a good balance of power and contact. They probably have the edge in pitching within the series and they dominated the regular season against the Rangers going 9-4 against them. Can the Rangers win? Of course, they've been one of the hottest teams in all of baseball in the postseason. They didn't struggle at all against the Rays, they didn't even have much of an issue against the Orioles. The only concern I have is that the Rays didn't have their best pitcher (Shane McClanahan) and the Orioles starting pitching was always going to be an issue. Now they have to face an Astros team that is well prepared, experienced, and can line up their rotation in any way they want.

The extra games that the Rangers had to play in the opening series didn't allow them to line up their rotation perfectly. Nathan Eovaldi is ideally the guy you'd want going in the first game against the Astros and Verlander. I'm guessing he will start it, because it should be normal rest, but that has yet to be confirmed. As good as the Rangers offense has been it isn't that much better than the Astros offense. They scored about 50 more runs, 30 more hits, and only 11 more home runs. That's not a ridiculous amount and the pitching for the Astros is way better than the Rangers, at least in theory. I think this is where the Rangers end their run, unfortunately. I'd like to see them win and get a new team in the World Series, but Houston will win the series. At -140, it is higher than I normally give out, but it is worth it here.

HOUSTON, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 28: Justin Verlander #35 of the Houston Astros reacts to striking out Pavin Smith #26 of the Arizona Diamondbacks to get out of the seventh inning with two men on base at Minute Maid Park on September 28, 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

Diamondbacks vs. Phillies

The Diamondbacks are hot. They have yet to lose in the postseason and took down their division rivals. If you look at the two teams they have a lot of parallels. The pitching staff has two strong starters (Gallen and Kelly for Arizona, and Wheeler and Nola) that will be relied on to win games. The offense has some very talented players, but the Phillies have the clear edge here, especially with Bryce Harper hitting the way he is right now. Going on the road really shouldn't be much of an issue as the Diamondbacks have already won four of their five playoff games on the road. What needs to go right for the Diamondbacks to win? Well, they need to steal one of these road games and see if their offense keeps rolling. But, more importantly, the pitching staff needs to keep doing what it has done in these series. They've allowed no more than three runs in a game and have allowed two runs in each of the last four games. The season series was pretty even with the Phillies winning 4-3 in seven games.

The Phillies slayed the Braves. It really wasn't much of a surprise. Something about the playoffs seems to bring out the best in Harper, and even guys like Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner. The biggest question I have with them is this: Did they just win their World Series? There was a lot of emotion in the series against the Braves. They went to the real thing last year, so I am on the side that they know business isn't finished and that the Braves series was just another in the path of what they had to do, but I do have a bit of concern they could be distracted. Depsite that brief thought, I recognize the pitching probably cancels each other out and I think the Phillies bullpen is a little more equipped for this one. But, it really is the Phillies offense that is making me think will put together a Houston Philly rematch. There is some value on the Diamondbacks at +145 because they shouldn't be dismissed, but I'll play Phillies -1.5 games for the series at +120.

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on Twitter: @futureprez2024