The 2022 MLB season is just under a month away from the All-Star Game, signifying the end of the first 50% of the campaign.
The New York Yankees have dominated the year from start to finish. They recently became the first team to amass 50 wins. The New York Mets have been equally up to the task in the National League, setting up a potential in-house World Series.
While certain teams have seized control of their divisions, many others are still wide open and waiting to be decided; here is what those look like.
AL East: New York Yankees (-900)
The Yankees have a 12-game lead on the second-place Toronto Blue Jays. They do not seem interested in foregoing that lead, much less giving up the division.
New York is playing with a swagger that it has not had in the past few seasons. They continue to find different ways to win MLB games, whether that be late-game heroics at the plate, shutdown pitching, or offensive explosions from an assembly of the league’s best power hitters.
Pitching is especially important in the postseason. NYY has a few of the game’s best slotted into their rotation currently, making them a seemingly unflappable pick.
AL Central: Chicago White Sox (+150)
The White Sox were projected to dominate this division. Sadly, they only find themselves at 32-33. This is good for the third palace and 4.5 MLB games off the leading Minnesota Twins; however, this disappointing gap could only be delaying the inevitable.
Their experience and innate advantage on the mound makes them a decent long-term investment, while the overperforming and younger Twins, while fun and exciting, are less of a guarantee come crunch time.
AL West: Houston Astros (-1700)
The Astros have jumped out to a 10-game lead in the American League West after it seemed as if the Los Angeles Angels, now +2000 to win the division, were going to end their reign of dominance and steal the pennant.
Houston is slightly thinner than it was in seasons past. Fortunately, they still have an elite assembly of talent and are a lot of experience. The challenging teams, meanwhile, are inconsistent, as shown by the Angels’ historic rise and 14-game losing streak. The latest news for the NBA Parlays tonight are updated frequently for our sports bettors also, to enjoy.
NL East: New York Mets (-230)
The Atlanta Braves came roaring back to life a few weeks ago. They have certainly spiced up the NL East race, but the Mets are still the best bet here.
Bettors must remind themselves that New York has reached its league-best 45-24 record without a single appearance from Jacob deGrom and many missed starts by Max Scherzer. The analysts are expecting Max to return shortly after the All-Star break.
Once one of them, much less both, come back, those random losses will quickly be converted to wins, eliminating most of Atlanta’s window of opportunity.
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals (+110)
The Cardinals are second in the oddsmakers’ chances to win the NL Central. Milwaukee Brewers (-145) are the main favorite.
While the Brewers do have an excellent defense and solid pitching staff. They lack the takeover talent at the plate that could make the difference down the stretch.
St. Louis, meanwhile, has Paul Goldschmidt playing at an MVP level with several key contributors surrounding him. Namely Nolan Arenado and a talented pitching staff capable of leading a team to a MLB postseason berth. The Bparlay.com team have also published a guide on how College Basketball Parlays work.
NL East: San Diego Padres (+240)
The unthinkable: the Los Angeles Dodgers will lose the division once again.
San Diego has been extremely competitive with its rival all season, all without a single plate appearance from MVP candidate Fernando Tatis Jr. Once he comes back and restores explosion and electricity to the Padres’ game at the plate, they will be even better.
The Dodgers, who are tied with the Padres at the time of publication, are missing out on having a clear leader and often seem like a supremely talented but faceless group of talent, which could be their downfall.