Major League Baseball Division Series action gets underway on Saturday, October 7 with two American League series and two National League series. The top four seeds are all well rested since they didn’t have to play in the Wild Card round. Those teams are the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League and the Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros in the American League. Those four teams will have home field advantage in the best-of-five division series. The two division series in the National League are the Philadelphia Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves and the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers. The American League division series are the Texas Rangers vs. the Baltimore Orioles and the Minnesota Twins vs. the Houston Astros. Let’s look at all four series, odds and preview.
2023 MLB Division Series Betting Lines
ALDS Series Price and Preview
(1) Baltimore Orioles vs. (5) Texas Rangers
Baltimore Orioles -130
Texas Rangers +110
What does it take for a team to get respect? The Orioles were the best team in the American League this season and yet they are barely favored over the Texas Rangers. The Rangers definitely have the edge in hitting, but it is not a huge edge, as Baltimore does all of the little things right to score runs. The pitching edge, despite what the Rangers did against the Rays, is definitely in the corner of the Orioles. Let’s see if Jordan Montgomery and Nathan Eovaldi can duplicate what they did against a Baltimore lineup that is much better than Tampa Bay’s.
The Orioles have Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez and they can match up with anything that Texas throws. The Orioles also have the far better bullpen than the Rangers and oftentimes in playoff games it is the team that has the better bullpen that wins. Baltimore was excellent in close games all season and why will it be any different in the playoffs?
(2) Houston Astros vs. (3) Minnesota Twins
Houston Astros -155
Minnesota Twins -135
The Astros are the defending World Series champs but they looked nothing like a World Series champ for much of this season. They didn’t clinch the division until the last day of the regular season and that is only because Texas choked away the division lead and the Mariners were mismanaged. There is no denying that the Astros have a ton of experience with players like Justin Verlander, Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve, just to name a few, but this is not last year’s Houston team.
The Twins finally won a playoff game and took both games against Toronto. The Twins have really good pitching and they may be able to stay with the Astros, especially late in games. There is no doubt that Carlos Correa will want to beat his former team and Minnesota is full of young talented players like Royce Lewis who can make an impact. This series may not be the cakewalk for Houston that many people are predicting.
NLDS Series Price and Preview
(1) Atlanta Braves vs. (4) Philadelphia Phillies
Atlanta Braves -185
Philadelphia Phillies +160
Can the Phillies take down the Braves for the second straight season? It definitely won’t be easy, as the Braves were the best team in the league all season and one that doesn’t have many weaknesses. There is no question that the Braves lineup is the best in baseball, as it is loaded from top to bottom beginning with likely league MVP Ronald Acuna Jr.. The Braves pitching does have some question marks but if Spencer Strider and Max Fried pitch well then this may not be the competitive series that most people think it will be.
The Phillies have a very good lineup that is not that far behind the Braves as they can throw out Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper among others. The Phillies got really good pitching from Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola against the Marlins, but whether those two can be trusted against the lethal lineup of the Braves is another story.
(2) Los Angeles Dodgers vs. (6) Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Dodgers -235
Arizona Diamondbacks +195
The one mismatch in the divisional round on paper is this one. The Dodgers are better in almost every area than the Diamondbacks. Arizona did well just to beat Milwaukee. The Dodgers have a lineup that is loaded with star players including Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. There are some questions about the pitching of Los Angeles, as Clayton Kershaw is not the pitcher he once was and the Dodgers are depending on rookies Bobby Miller and Ryan Pepiot.
The Diamondbacks found a way to score runs against the Brewers, so all is not hopeless. Corbin Carroll is hot again and he gives them speed and power in the lineup. The starting rotation does have Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, and they will need to be great if Arizona is to have any chance in this series.
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