Cleveland Guardians Weekly Betting Update-August 30

The Cleveland Guardians are the front runners in the AL Central and are currently favored to capture the division crown in 2022. 

SportsGrid will follow the AL Central closely over the final month of the MLB season and offer a weekly update from the FanDuel Sportsbook, which has plenty of betting implications for how things finish out in the three-headed AL Central race. Not only will we be looking toward their upcoming series but also tracking their divisional, playoff, and World Series odds along the way. 

This week in Guardians action, Cleveland is set to take on the Baltimore Orioles for a three-game series before hosting the Seattle Mariners for a three-game set. 

With a record of 67-59, the Guardians hold a 1.5-game lead in the AL Central over the Minnesota Twins and a sizable five-game advantage over the Chicago White Sox. Things are indeed playing in the Guardians’ favor, and they’ve continued to surprise a lot of people with how competitive this young roster has managed to be. The division race will likely come down to the Guardians’ eight remaining matchups with the second-place Twins. Through 11 games between the clubs, the Guardians hold a 6-5 edge in the season series, and if that holds true through the final eight matchups, it’s difficult to see the Twins overtaking them in the division. With September approaching, the Guardians have continued to see their AL Central odds bet down, this week from -105 to -160. 

The Guardians are still front runners in the AL Central, and if they ultimately win the division, they’ll be gifted home field for at least one matchup, where they’ve posted a solid 32-25 record. Cleveland has found a lot of success from their rotation, and it’s not difficult to see them being a tough out in a seven-game series when you boast the amount of pitching depth they do. As a result, the Guardians currently own the sixth-best odds to win the AL pennant at +1700, which represents exactly how things look in terms of their record compared to the American League standings. The Guardians could make noise in October with some good hitters in the middle of their lineup and a scary rotation. There’s certainly some value attached to their current odds that warrant consideration. 

This wasn’t the year for the Guardians to go all in at the trade deadline. Instead, they continued to let their young roster develop, and they’ve rewarded management by leading the division entering the stretch run. You can undoubtedly see teams fearful of a rotation that features Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, and Cal Quantrill as a three-headed monster. Still, it’s difficult to see the Guardians entering a postseason series as a favorite, even if they take on a wild card team,  meaning it’s still not easy to convince yourself to buy into these current odds. With that, if you value pitching and think this rotation can outlast some of the best offenses in baseball, sprinkling some money on the Guardians to win the Fall Classic isn’t the worst thing to consider.