Dodgers News: LA Biggest Divisional Round Favorites, According to Oddsmakers
After a little more than six months, October is here, and MLB's four Wild Card series were over about as quickly as they began.
The Texas Rangers laid waste to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Philadelphia Phillies dispatched the Miami Marlins, the Minnesota Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Milwaukee Brewers -- with all series ending in two-game sweeps.
Now with that first order of business very quickly done and dusted, we know all of the Divisional Round matchups.
And the Los Angeles Dodgers stand as the biggest favorites of the round, per BetOnline.
Los Angeles is set to take on a fellow NL West foe in the Diamondbacks, and oddsmakers see no problems ahead for the Dodgers, as they're listed at -220 favorites.
Trailing behind them are the Houston Astros over the Minnesota Twins at -160 odds, the NL East-winning Atlanta Braves over their division rival Phillies at -155, and the upstart Baltimore Orioles -- who hold odds of -125 to defeat the Texas Rangers.
LA finished the year on a tear, ending the regular season at 100-62 with a dominant 16 game lead over the second place Diamondbacks, so perhaps it's no surprise that the Dodgers have the biggest odds in the sport -- even over the MLB-leading 104-win Braves.
The Dodgers come in with one of the best lineups in MLB, headlined by two Most Valuable Player candidates in Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman along with J.D. Martinez and Max Muncy, who hit 33 and 36 home runs, respectively.
Combine that with a future Hall of Famer in Clayton Kershaw and an excellent rookie in Bobby Miller leading the starting rotation, and LA could have a deep run this postseason.
And, of course, you can't take any postseason series lightly, but LA should beat the Diamondbacks handily in the NLDS.
Game 1 is on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:20 PM on TBS.
