2024 MLB Betting Lines
The second half of the MLB season gets underway with the futures odds favorites looking to straighten a few things out. The Los Angeles Dodgers entered the All-Star break with losses in six of seven games closing the gap between them and everyone else on the odds board. And it can still be a roller coaster ride for LA with a number of players, especially starting pitchers, on the injured list. What keeps them as the favorite is knowing Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Walker Buehler and even Clayton Kershaw will likely join the rotation at some point. The offense will also get a boost when Mookie Betts and Max Muncy return, so they should be fine. And they are in no danger of not making the playoffs with a comfortable lead in the NL West.
The Phillies and Yankees also took their lumps before the break. A three-game sweep of the Dodgers was nice but the Phils dropped five of seven games against opponents not from LA. They also opened the second half with back-to-back losses to the Pirates before taking out some frustration in a 6-0 win on Sunday. Philly still owns the best record in baseball but with their pitching more in line with what we expected they won’t have a dominant stretch like they did earlier in the year.
One team surging up the odds board is the Houston Astros, who took over first place in the AL West with a win over Seattle on Saturday. The Astros won 17 of 21 games just before dropping two straight to Texas before the break. They recovered from that snafu by taking the first two games of their weekend series with the M’s. Over their last nine games the pitching staff allowed more than three runs in a game just once. They’ve been good offensively as well with a MLB leading .261 team batting average. We talked about the top five favorites last week and before that was a discussion among the second five. There are some good clubs in the next tier and like we saw last season anything can happen when the playoffs roll around.
MLB Betting Lines
2024 MLB World Series Betting Odds
| ODDS TO WIN 2024 - MLB WORLD SERIES |
| Arizona Diamondbacks +5305 |
Atlanta Braves +1051 |
Baltimore Orioles +686 |
| Boston Red Sox +5005 |
Chicago Cubs +16017 |
Chicago White Sox +900801 |
| Cincinnati Reds +21523 |
Cleveland Guardians +1602 |
Colorado Rockies +349062 |
| Detroit Tigers +22023 |
Houston Astros +1451 |
Kansas City Royals +5005 |
| Los Angeles Angels +80092 |
Los Angeles Dodgers +362 |
Miami Marlins +378258 |
| Milwaukee Brewers +2152 |
Minnesota Twins +2002 |
New York Mets +7007 |
| New York Yankees +576 |
Oakland Athletics +215743 |
Philadelphia Phillies +375 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates +8500 |
St. Louis Cardinals +5305 |
San Diego Padres +4805 |
| San Francisco Giants +9510 |
Seattle Mariners +2252 |
Tampa Bay Rays +17018 |
| Texas Rangers +7508 |
Toronto Blue Jays +60068 |
Washington Nationals +40045 |
*Odds as of Monday, July 22, 10:00 AM ET
Boston Red Sox
The issue for the teams in this section is making the playoffs, which isn’t guaranteed. The Red Sox won 10 of 13 games before the break putting pressure on Baltimore and New York, who faltered a bit. On June 13 the Sox were a season-high 14 game out of first place in the AL East but got within 4.5 games at the break behind a pitching staff anchored by All-Star Tanner Houck. They’ve gotten strong seasons from Connor Wong and Jarren Duran at the dish while Rafael Devers is having another solid campaign.
San Diego Padres
The Padres are a tough group to figure out since they’ve consistently been inconsistent. A good stretch of play followed by a bad episode has kept them right around .500. Pitching has been strong even without Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish and they continue to play without Fernando Tatis Jr. Xander Bogaerts returned from an extended IL stint before the break and if they can get healthy they are a wild card team. And who knows after that.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Last year’s NL pennant winners made a climb out of a steep hole by posting the fourth-highest winning percentage in MLB since the start of June. They opened the second half with two straight wins over the Cubs and were three outs away from a sweep before falling 2-1 in extras on Sunday. Still, it was a good sign with Brandon Pfaadt tossing seven shutout innings as the rotation continues to shine after some miserable outings earlier in the year.
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cards currently hold the second wild card in the NL and they’re within five games of the Brewers for first-place in the NL Central. However, their advanced metrics show they’ve been one of if not the most fortunate team in baseball. They closed the week with two straight wins over the Braves but their run differential is the worst of any team more than two games over .500. Over the course of a long season things tend to even out and the Cards are likely one of the odd teams out in the NL playoff chase.
Kansas City Royals
No matter how the season ends it’s going to be considered a success. The Royals opened the second half showing off what got them to be a playoff contender. They swept the White Sox behind strong pitching and outstanding defense allowing just one run in each of the games. Starting pitching has been the strength with Seth Lugo setting the tone. Lugo is 12-4 with a 2.38 ERA in 21 starts. And, of course, they have Bobby Witt Jr., who’s elevated his game to elite status. He was 9 for 11 with a home run, three RBIs and zero strikeouts in the Chicago series.
MLB Teams
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