The MLB season has entered the final stretch, as the last full month of the regular season is here.
There are only about 30 games remaining, as the American League Wild Card Game is set for Oct. 5. The NL goes the following day.
While there isn’t much time left to play, there is plenty that is still undecided. Several divisions appear as if they’ll go right down to the wire, as do the majority of player awards.
One of the major annual honors that looks to be wrapped up is the award for AL MVP.
The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani has taken firm control of the popular betting market and is now shown at -3500 at FanDuel West Virginia to win the award.
He’s had an incredible season and has dominated on both sides of the baseball diamond. Ohtani leads all of MLB in home runs with 42, while simultaneously owning a 3.00 ERA and 127 strikeouts through 105 innings pitched.
He would basically need to stop playing altogether for someone else to have a real chance.
Let’s break down the close MLB races and what the odds look like at West Virginia online sportsbooks.
MLB Futures Odds At WV Sportsbooks, September 2021
Divisional Winners
The overall odds for this year’s World Series haven’t adjusted too much from August, but several of the divisional races have.
The most intriguing battle is still taking place in the National League West. Despite the fact that San Francisco is sporting the most wins in the league, WV sportsbooks and many others believe the Dodgers will finish atop the division.
Currently, at DraftKings WV Sportsbook, Los Angeles is listed at -195, compared to the Giants with odds of +155.
Part of the reason the odds are leaning in LA’s favor is its recent play. The team is 20-6 in the month of August.
However, the Giants lead their rivals by 1.5 games and haven’t stopped winning themselves. They are playing soundly at the moment as well, having won 19 contests this past month.
The two sides meet just one more time in the regular season. This three-game set starts on Friday in the Bay Area.
It will prove to be a massive series for both sides, as a sweep from either could have a tremendous impact. The season series is tied at exactly eight games apiece.
The encouraging news is the losing franchise is in a fine position to qualify for the postseason.
There’s also good news for bettors and fans of quality baseball. If the NL West runner-up prevails in the one-game Wild Card, then we’ll get to see a great NLCS matchup between these two.
East Division Odds
The divisional pursuit in both the AL East and NL East is worth keeping an eye on, too.
On the National side of things, several teams are consistently rotating at the top. The Mets, Phillies and Braves have all spent time leading the others.
After a historically bad month, the Mets are now in third and trail by 5.5 games. Philadelphia sits in second, 2.5 games behind the first-place Braves.
Even though Atlanta lost star Ronald Acuna, its offense is still doing enough to get the job done.
At FanDuel, the Braves have odds of -370 to take the division crown. Philadelphia follows at +310, while the Mets fell all the way to +1800.
The AL East also saw some movement in the odds.
The Yankees appeared as if they might actually challenge Tampa Bay, but their hot streak has cooled off. They had won 13 straight tilts but are now losers of their last four.
Tampa Bay continues to win as well. It’s earned nine victories in its last 10 outings.
Right now, the Rays lead the division by eight games and are listed at -800 to finish it out. The Yanks are available at +650.
Boston, which has stumbled of late, is 10 games behind Tampa and has odds of +3000 to win the division.
MLB Cy Young Award Odds
The Cy Young competition is quite close on both sides of MLB.
Gerrit Cole reclaimed the lead for the honors in the AL. He missed a little bit of time with COVID-19 but has responded nicely since.
FanDuel has him at -200 after three solid starts in a row. Cole surrendered just one earned run in nearly 18 innings, and New York won all three games.
There is a new contender in the second spot, too.
The Blue Jays’ Robbie Ray has emerged with the second-best odds at +300, jumping ahead of the White Sox tandem.
Lance Lynn, who was favored around -150 at the beginning of August, is now offered at +400. His teammate Carlos Rodon also fell and is currently available at +2000.
Ohtani is gaining some momentum toward earning even more hardware, but he’s a ways behind at +6000 in this category.
The NL race features just about the same number of pitchers.
The Dodgers’ Walker Buehler is the favorite at -120, but a couple of others are right there. Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes (+200) and Brandon Woodruff (+500) are both playing well and could easily make a surge to the top.
Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler (+1100), Los Angeles’ Max Scherzer (+1500) and San Francisco’s Kevin Gausman (+2600) are certainly live options.
If any of them put together a stellar final month, they could take home the Cy Young.
Betting On The NL MVP
With the AL MVP mostly in hand, we’ll focus on the NL.
At Caesars Sportsbook WV, the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. leads the way at -260. He was sidelined with a shoulder injury but returned as if he had missed no time.
Tatis is playing in the outfield mostly these days and continues to show incredible power at the plate. He hit five homers in August in only 57 at-bats.
Caesars shows three others within odds of +1000 who could take the award.
It has Max Muncy at +750, Freddie Freeman at +850 and Bryce Harper available with odds of +900.
Often, the MVP goes to a player whose team is in first place. It’s possible that all three of these guys could help their chances by securing a division, something Tatis won’t do this season.
