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  Top 10 teams to win the 2024 World Series8 April 2024
In addition, many pitchers are being lost to season-ending injuries and the MLB Players Association believes it may have to do with the pitch clock that was added a season ago. While those stories continue to develop, let’s focus on the wins and losses. Teams have six months to figure it out, but who will be fighting in the playoffs to give themselves a chance to hoist the trophy at the end of the season? Let’s take a deeper look at 10 teams to consider for a World Series future bet. (All odds provided by bet365 Sportsbook & Racebook) 10. Mariners +2500 The Seattle Mariners are off to a rough start to the season, failing to come away with a series win in the team’s first three matchups. However, with power at the plate with the likes of Julio Rodriguez, Mitch Haniger and Ty France, the offensive struggles should soon go away. Veteran Luis Castillo, despite struggling in his opening two starts, has more than enough in his pitching arsenal to be a top pitcher for a top team and he has proven that in years past. Defensively, a middle infield of Jorge Polanco and J.P. Crawford is a sound double-play threat that can really help pitchers get out of jams when ground balls are hit up the middle.
9. Cardinals +2500 Five is the number of the season to this point for St. Louis. The Cardinals currently have a 5-5 record, and sit in fifth place in the NL Central division. We highlighted the middle infield for the Mariners, but the key players on the Cardinals sit at the corners. At third base, Nolan Arenado leads the team in hits with 11, and while his homerun total has yet to reach one, that number can skyrocket in the blink of an eye with a player like Arenado. Across the diamond at first, Paul Goldschmidt only has seven hits through 10 games, but with over 150 hits and at least 30 homers in each of his last three seasons, I wouldn’t expect the struggles to linger. The pitching has been a disappointment in the opening 10 games for St. Louis as the team has allowed 46 runs already. With the offense averaging just north of four runs per game, if the pitching staff can get into a rhythm this team can rattle off some wins. 8. Orioles +1200 Not many would have predicted the Baltimore Orioles to win 101 games a season ago and be the AL East regular season champs, but that is exactly what happened before the Orioles got swept by the Texas Rangers in the ALDS. There aren’t many players on the Orioles bringing in the big bucks but that has helped them snag more decent players for the roster. Heading to Boston tomorrow for the first divisional matchup for either side, the Orioles are looking to bring the team batting average of .222 up. It will be a true test as the Red Sox pitching staff is only allowing 2.4 runs per game in the early stages of the season. Adley Rutschman had a big season for the O’s behind the plate and at the plate. Rutschman smacked 20 homeruns and drove in 80 RBIs in 2023 and is off to another good start batting .303 in 2024. Ryan Mountcastle, first baseman, is tied with Rutschman for the team lead in hits with 10 and outfielder Anthony Santander leads the Orioles with 10 RBIs in just nine games. If Cedric Mullins and Austin Hays, a pair of outfielders for the AL East team, can get squared away at the plate, this lineup becomes very difficult to find outs. 7. Rangers +900 The defending World Series champion Texas Rangers won the 2023 title in just five games against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Jordan Montgomery was a big piece for the Rangers en route to victory, but ended up choosing to pitch for Arizona this season in free agency. The Rangers still have ace Nathan Eovaldi, who can still burn his fastball in the zone in the upper 90s. Corey Seager, who had a massive World Series, is batting .333 this season and is one of the better shortstops in the field in the league. Seager is complimented by Marcus Semien and Jared Walsh who are regular starters in the infield and also have a batting overage over .300. Despite losing some pitching in the offseason, as a team, Texas is hitting .281 at the dish and knows how to manufacture runs on the board.
6. Blue Jays +2500 The Toronto Blue Jays crept into the playoffs in 2023 but were quickly bounced in the Wild Card round by the Minnesota Twins. At 4-6 thus far, the Blue Jays shouldn’t panic because their opening three series were against the Yankees, Rays and Astros, all of whom are projected to have at least pretty solid seasons to say the least. The team’s three biggest bats, Vlad Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and George Springer are all batting below the Mendoza Line (.200). Not every pitching staff will be able to keep this three-headed monster in check for long. Pitching also needs to come around, a 5.46 team ERA will not cut it, especially what is supposed to be a competitive AL East race. 5. Phillies +1400 After beating the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS 3-1, the Philadelphia Phillies were in great shape to make the World Series, but came crashing down with a Game 7 loss to the D-Backs in the NLCS. Nothing but a sour taste is remaining for the Phillies but at 4-5, it isn’t quite the start the team, or the fans, were imagining. Besides the 6-2 Braves, no other team in the NL East is above .500 in this opening two weeks of baseball. Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto are driving the ball well and both of them are tied with a team-high nine hits on the season with outfielder Kyle Schwarber. Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos and Alec Bohm are also key pieces that return to the Phillies’ lineup this season but got out of the gate a little slower than others. As the season continues to age, the top six or seven guys in Philly’s lineup are going to be frightening for opposing pitchers. 4. Yankees +700 The Bronx Bombers were already blasting away the long ball with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo. However, in the offseason, the Yankees made two big acquisitions. With a short porch in right field, the Yanks brought in Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo who both are lefties and can have a big season with that right field wall. Gerrit Cole, the New York ace, suffered an injury and is set to start playing catch this week, so getting him back will be a major addition to the pitching staff. With the rate of pitchers dropping to season-ending injuries, keeping your rotation healthy could be a big difference maker. 3. Braves +400 With the roster the Atlanta Braves had, a 3-1 loss in the NLDS wasn’t acceptable to both players and fans. It got even worse this week, when young star pitcher Spencer Strider was played on the IL with a UCL sprain and no decision on season-ending Tommy John surgery has been made yet. Let’s look at the players currently healthy for the Braves that can get them back in a position to do some damage in the playoffs. In first place in the NL East with a 6-2 record, the Atlanta Braves have the second highest run differential in the MLB at +26. A major part of that is due to the team batting .300 as a group. Nearly the entire nine-man lineup is a massive worry for the opposition. With an infield of Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, Orlando Arcia and Austin Riley both the bats and gloves are contributions from all four. In fact, as a team, the Braves have only had one error in eight games. The bullpen is another bright spot for this team as it refused to allow a single run in the latest series.
2. Astros +1000 Fans of rival teams might be the only ones who had the Astros tied for last in the AL West with a 3-7 record. Nothing has stood out in one area that is leading to the seven losses for Houston, and again, it is only 10 games into 162 so no time for worry just yet. Kyle Tucker, Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez are all off to solid beginnings to their years at the plate but other key returning pieces like Alex Bregman and Jose Abreu really need to pick it up. Abreu is batting a miserable .074 with just two hits in 27 at-bats. As history shows, when these players get into the playoffs, big things can happen with the team’s two World Series titles coming in 2017 and 2022, along with winning the AL Pennant in 2019 and 2021. 1. Dodgers +325 Normally I try to avoid going with the favorite as my top choice, but if you look at the roster of the Los Angeles Dodgers, nobody is going to blame me. It is obviously win or bust for the Dodgers this season with names like Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman just to give you the tip of the iceberg. Ohtani signed with the Dodgers to a record 10-year/$700 million contract with the Japanese player making only $2 million over the next 10 years and the rest of the money is deferred to after that period. Ohtani will only be able to bat this year due to an injury but I think the Dodgers will have enough pitching options for the year. Tyler Glasnow and another Japanese player, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, signed with the Dodgers this offseason as well and will lead the starting pitchers. We already mentioned the three big names in the offensive lineup, but don’t look over Max Muncy, Teoscar Hernandez and Will Smith who are going to also be extremely important to this team’s success. They are the favorites on bet365 and rightfully so for who the team retained from a season ago, and the incredible pieces that they brought in to have a completely stacked roster.
Top 10 teams to win the 2024 World Series
is republished from Online.CasinoCity.com.
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