Take me out to the ball game. And since we can’t yet go out with the crowd, let’s head to the sportsbooks apps for the Phillies’ odds.
If you have faith in the Phils during the most unusual season of them all with this 60-game format, there is plenty of value for the taking.
The Phillies currently have odds of 20-1 to win the World Series at DraftKings and FOX Bet ($100 wager pays $2,000), while you can get bigger odds of 25-1 ($100 wager pays $2,500) at FanDuel and William Hill.
You may want to consider jumping on Caesars Sportsbook’s number of 30-1 ($100 wager pays $3,000) on the Phillies.
It’s important to point out the Phillies’ odds haven’t changed much since they were released around last Halloween. On most sportsbooks the Phils are anywhere from the 8th to 12th best odds to take home the crown. However, that’s not going to be an easy ticket to cash.
Let’s look at the odds of the teams in the East to win the National League. According to most experts and sportsbooks (DraftKings) the Phils (+1100 — $100 wager pays $1100) are the fourth best team in the NL East behind the Braves (+600), the defending champion Nationals (+750), and the Mets (+900).
As for the rest of the National League, add in the Dodgers, who are generally the favorite to win the World Series, as well as the Cardinals, Cubs, Brewers and Reds and you have one heck of a race jockeying for NL supremacy.
MLB
To make it even more difficult for the Phillies, they’ll play games against the Yankees, who are the second choice on the board at most sportsbooks, with odds of +400 to win the World Series. By the way, all the Bronx Bombers did a season ago was win 103 games. The climb uphill doesn’t get any easier with games against the Rays (+1800) and Red Sox (+3000). Tampa wasn’t too shabby last year with 96 wins of their own, while Boston racked up 84.
Here’s a little optimism for you: After 60 games a season ago, the Phillies (33-27) were the leaders in the NL East and held the fourth-best record in the National League. Meanwhile, the Mets (28-32) and the World Champion Nationals (27-33) were closer to the bottom of the standings and wouldn’t have sniffed the postseason.
So it’s going to be a 60-game sprint to the finish. Wouldn’t it be great if we turn back the clock to 1993? That was the season when the Phillies posted the franchise’s best 60-game start to a season (43-17) and earned a trip to the World Series.
Or perhaps a 35-25 beginning like in 2008 could suffice. All the Phils did that season — to quote the great “Indians” catcher Jake Taylor — was “win the whole (bleeping) thing.”
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