The Los Angeles Dodgers are 106-47 and have locked up both a first-round bye and the 1st seed in the National League Playoffs. They lead the Houston Astros by 5.5 games with nine games remaining. Their magic number is 3 (Dodgers wins or Astro losses) to claim the league’s best record.
Expectations are justifiably sky-high for the Dodgers rolling into the postseason.
Clayton Kershaw, Trea Turner, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman have headlined a team that scored the most runs and given up the fewest. The entire list of Ontario betting sites and sportsbooks have the Dodgers as heavy favorites to win this year’s World Series.
Dodgers Odds to Win a Playoff Round (-210)
As the team with the best record in baseball, it would be pretty disappointing if the Dodgers failed to win a playoff round. Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time that happened, as the Dodgers knocked the Major League-best Giants out in the NLDS last season.
Still, with the expensive roster, the Dodgers have acquired, the expectations are a bit higher than last year’s Giants. As it stands, LA is slated to face the Braves or Padres in the Division Series. Either would pose a tough challenge, but the Dodgers would certainly be favored.
Dodgers Odds to Win the National League (+145)
Compared to the AL-leading Houston Astros (+150), the Dodgers seem like the real powerhouses of the league. They wield a significant favorite over the second-place New York Mets, who sit at +250. Los Angeles has a ton of playoff success under its belt, so one would think they’d also have that advantage over the Mets. For the rest of the likely contenders, the Atlanta Braves are in third place at +410, while the St. Louis Cardinals are at 4th at +900.
Neither of those teams should be discounted in the playoffs.
Despite losing Freeman in the off-season, the Braves are the defending champion and have added Matt Olson, and expect to have Ronald Acuna back by the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Cardinals will likely have two of the top three MVP vote-getters in the National League in Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado.
The road to the World Series is not very easy.
Dodgers Odds to Win the World Series (+290)
Probably the most surprising part of the Dodgers’ Playoff odds is how heavily favored they are to win the World Series. They sit well above the second-place Houston Astros (+380) and third-place New York Yankees (+500).
Oddsmaking isn’t an exact science, and the fact that the Yankees and Astros will likely have to go through one another in the AL plays a role in their decreased chances. Still, it’s nice to see how much respect is being given to Los Angeles in these early projections.
Odds from FanDuel Sportsbook