The St. Louis Cardinals have climbed to the top of the NL Central and are a team to watch through the season’s final stretch.
SportsGrid will follow the Cards closely over the final two months 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 two-horse NL 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.
The Cards are coming off an impressive week, where they took three-of-five games from the Chicago Cubs before taking two-of-three games against the surging Atlanta Braves.
This week is set to see the Cardinals face off with the Cincinnati Reds for three games and are -290 favorites to win the series, while they’ll conclude their week with a three-game set against the Cubs.
NL Central Odds: Cardinals to Win NL Central (-1100) (Last week: -550)After an impressive series victory over the Atlanta Braves on the weekend, the Cardinals maintained their six-game lead atop the NL Central and have had their division odds continue to be bet down in doing so. Last week, the Cardinals already sat at a lofty price tag of -550, but that number has continued to increase in favor of St. Louis, now sitting at -1100. It’s clear that with this price and the Cardinals’ sizable gap at the top of the NL Central that there really isn’t any value present with the Red Birds. The Cardinals only have four matchups left against the Brewers, and they have the easiest remaining schedule in MLB, so it’s hard to see a scenario where their division lead evaporates.
League Winner: Cardinals to win National League (+900) (Last week +1300)After another week that saw them pick up five victories in eight games, the Cardinals leapfrogged the San Diego Padres and now have the fourth best odds to win the National League pennant. The Cards owned odds of +1300 last week and have seen those odds bet down to +900, which has been a constant trend with all of the Cardinals’ futures. St. Louis came from behind twice against the Braves bullpen in their series over their weekend and picked up a pair of crucial victories. With a favorable schedule down the stretch, it shouldn’t be a surprise to continue to see the Cardinals’ odds rise. However, the question remains if their betting ceiling will plateau with the fourth-best odds to win the National League.
World Series Odds: Cardinals to Win World Series (+2000) (Last week: +2600)The Cardinals are a sneaky sleeper team to win the World Series, and they’ve seen those odds bet down from +2600 to +2000 over the last week. Those odds now have them with the seventh highest to capture the World Series, and there’s still value in this price as the team continues to put together a great stretch of play. In August, the Cardinals posted a 23-7 record, which likely inspired bettors to buy in on the hype surrounding the NL Central leaders. As long as they continue to be priced behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and Atlanta Braves in the NL, some value will likely be present with the Cardinals.
