Major League Baseball bettors don’t have to wait until the 2022 season gets underway to start placing wagers.
Future bets are readily available for baseball fans who are looking to add a little extra skin to the game. We’re not only talking about dishing out some coin on the potential World Series winner later this fall. There are other avenues like regular-season win totals on any one of the 30 clubs across the big leagues.
Looking at the DraftKings Sportsbook board, there are a handful of teams that oddsmakers might be a bit too high on for the upcoming campaign. Here are three win totals that we see the UNDER cashing on by season’s end.
New York Mets (88.5)
It’s tough to feel good about the Mets right now, as all-world starter Jacob deGrom is going to miss significant time due to a stress reaction in his throwing shoulder. Fortunately for New York, it now has Max Scherzer to carry the load as the team’s ace in deGrom’s absence. But he’s only one arm, and unfair expectations now are being placed on the rest of the pitchers in the Mets’ rotation. Not to mention, Scherzer also has an injury of his own worth monitoring. New York’s bullpen is poised to be fair at best, so things could get rocky for the Mets unless Scherzer pitches out of his mind. deGrom probably won’t be out for the entire season, but his extended absence should put the OVER in serious jeopardy.
Tampa Bay Rays (89.5)
This might come off as reckless considering the Rays racked up 100 regular-season wins in 2021. But it feels fair to wonder if a sophomore slump is coming for Wander Franco, who seemingly is expected to be the catalyst for Tampa Bay’s offense. That’s a lot of pressure on a player who turned 21 years old at the beginning of March. The Rays’ team offensive numbers were middle-of-the-road last season (.244 batting average, .321 on-base percentage), so they could run into some trouble if their pitching isn’t at an elite level. And given the loaded lineups in the American League East, it might be tough for the Rays to keep opposing offenses at bay.
Seattle Mariners (83.5)
The Mariners were one of the feel-good stories in baseball last season when they hit the 90-win threshold for the first time since 2003 and flirted with a playoff spot. But the fun ride probably distracted baseball observers from the fact that Seattle was one of the worst hitting teams in the league in 2021. Seattle ranked dead last in average (.226), 28th in OBP (.303) and 26th in slugging percentage (.385). The M’s made some nice moves on paper over the offseason — acquiring Jesse Winkler, Eugenio Suárez and Robbie Ray — but none of those players have performed at an All-Star level on a consistent basis. Another mediocre season in the Pacific Northwest wouldn’t be at all surprising.
