Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
The Los Angeles Dodgers (44-28) and San Diego Padres (43-32) do not even lead the National League West right now, but both teams are listed above the division-leading San Francisco Giants (46-26) on the futures board at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
In fact, the Giants are currently the fifth choice on the odds to win the NL Pennant at +1000 behind the defending World Series champion Dodgers – the +170 favorites to repeat as pennant winners – the Padres (+350), the NL East-leading New York Mets (+425), and the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers (+900) (how sports betting works).
San Diego is the hottest team in the league at the moment, riding a five-game winning streak into Tuesday’s matchup with Los Angeles at Petco Park. The Padres won the opener of the three-game series 6-2 as -135 home favorites at sports betting sites on Monday, yet they are still 4.5 games out of first place.
San Francisco owns MLB’s best record heading into a two-game road set at the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday before hosting the Oakland Athletics for three games this weekend.
Oddsmakers seem to believe the Giants will eventually fade as the season progresses, with the cream rising to the top. The Dodgers have won the NL West in each of the previous eight years, going on to take the pennant in three of the past four and winning it all last season.
The last two times San Francisco won the division (2010 and 2012), the team went on to win the pennant and World Series as well. San Diego has not won the NL West since back in 2006.
That said, the Mets (37-30) look to be the toughest roadblock for all of these teams in the postseason due to a strong starting pitching staff, led by two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom. New York has the biggest divisional lead at four games over the second-place Philadelphia Phillies (34-35) and third-place Atlanta Braves (34-37), who are each struggling to reach the .500 mark. The Braves are +1400 to win the pennant, and the Phillies are +2400.
While Philadelphia appears to have some value as a longer shot, so do a couple teams from the NL Central – the Chicago Cubs (40-33) and St. Louis Cardinals (36-36). The Cubs are tied with the Brewers atop the division yet are +2000 to take the pennant while the Cardinals are +1800. However, heading into Tuesday’s action, every NL Central team is coming off a loss, with the Cincinnati Reds (35-36) on a five-game skid and +3000 to win the pennant.
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