Opening Day is almost here, and now it’s time to make three bets on one of Major League Baseball’s toughest divisions: the National League East.
Let’s start with the Braves, the defending division champs.
(All odds via DraftKings Sportsbook)
Braves to win division (+145)
Like death and taxes, the Braves being undervalued every season has become one of life’s certainties. Seemingly every year the Mets have more hype because they have spent more than the Braves and most of the other teams in Major League Baseball. The Phillies in recent years have also won multiple offseasons and come into Opening Day with sky-high expectations. The Nationals aren’t that far removed from a World Series that featured a loaded roster and equally lofty expectations. However, the steady hand of excellence can always be found in Atlanta. The Braves continue to be the standard in not only the division but as one of the league’s premier franchises. At this price, I’m going to bet on consistency and on them winning a sixth consecutive NL East title.
Phillies to win National League (+850)
Now that I’ve waxed poetic about the Braves, let’s get down to the brass tacks of who will make it to the World Series out of the NL. I’ve never been more impressed with a team in a losing effort than I was with the Phillies losing to the Houston Astros in the World Series. I doubted this baseball team from the very beginning last season. Former manager Joe Girardi was fired during the season because this team underachieved during his time at the helm, despite the Phillies’ big spending in the offseason. Once Rob Thomson took over as the interim manager, I thought the downward spiral would continue. Instead, this team got hot and made it to the wild card. Yet, I still thought the Cardinals, Braves and Padres would all end their magical run. Although the Phillies couldn’t finish the job against the Astros, they pushed that series to six competitive games against a superior opponent. Although star Bryce Harper will be out for the first half of the season with an injury, the addition of Trea Turner will help soften that blow. Once Harper is back, I like this team to pick up right where they left off.
Nationals have fewest wins in MLB (+280)
My final bet for the NL East is on the team that will be the worst in all of baseball and that is the Washington Nationals. Instead of this franchise doubling down on its World Series success from 2019, the Nats decided to have a fire sale of talent in the years since instead. Gone are those benchmark championship stars in Juan Soto, Anthony Rendon, Max Scherzer and Turner. The Nats have instead opted for a rebuild and traded all those pieces away. So now they are left with unproven, young prospects. The future may be bright in the nation’s capital, but the present is unforgiving.
