The final eight of the National League’s 2020 playoff entrants are in the books. The Los Angeles Dodgers were far and away the best team evidenced by their 42-17 overall record that allowed for it to secure the No. 1 seed that finds LA installed decided +140 favorites to represent the NL in the World Series. They’re followed by the No. 2 seed Atlanta Braves, No. 3 Chicago Cubs, No. 4 San Diego Padres, No. 5 St. Louis Cardinals, No. 6 Miami Marlins, No. 7 Cincinnati Reds and No. 8 Milwaukee Brewers. San Diego +450 actually finds itself situated second on the odds to win the National League followed by the Braves +575, Cubs +750, Reds +1000, Marlins and Brewers +1600 and Cardinals +1800. Each of these best-of-three series will take place at the higher seed’s home field with cardboard cutouts in attendance. Keep the fact that home field advantage won’t at all be a determining factor in how any of these Wild-Card series play out.
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Dodgers vs. Brewers
How loaded was the NL Central this season?! Four of the five teams qualified for the playoffs which includes this year’s version of the Brew Crew that did so by way of accruing a sub .500 overall record. Regardless, Craig Counsell’s troops found a way to punch its ticket into the second season. It could and likely will end up being a very short appearance as banged up the team is right now. A pair of complimentary bats in Dan Vogelbach and Ben Gamel could be no-shows, and the loss of Corbin Burnes to an oblique injury more or less hammered the final nail in their collective coffin. As good Milwaukee is in the back end with Josh Hader, Brent Suter and Freddy Peralta taking care of their business, it no longer has the starting pitching chops to make this a series with the No. 39 out of the equation. LA’s batting order simply just oozes offense, so it’ll likely be an exceptionally tough challenge for Christian Yelich and company to keep pace. That’s highly evidenced by the Dodgers clocking in as -300 chalk to advance; the highest of any Wild-Card matchup!
Braves vs. Reds
Oh boy is this going to be a fun series! Atlanta was far and away the best team the NL East had to offer this season in winning 35 of 60 games to bring back a $208 return on investment. Having said that, linemakers only installed the Braves short -125 favorites to get the best of a Cincinnati Reds outfit that found its stride at the tail end of the season. With Mike Soroka done for the year and Max Fried no more than a six inning pitcher at best, it’s a tough sell to buy into the Braves being able to contend with Trevor Bauer, Sonny Gray and Luis Castillo in a short series. On top of that, Ronald Acuna Jr. has been battling the injury bug all season and is currently being bothered by a wrist injury that could hamper him at the plate. Since dropping two of three to the Cubs back on September 10, Cincy went on to win 12 of its final 16 games. Though the Braves boast by far the better offense, the Reds are leaps and bounds better in the pitching department. They also sport the better overall defense. Seriously, Atlanta couldn’t have asked for a worse matchup to kick start the playoffs!
Cubs vs. Marlins
What are the odds Steve Bartman throws out the first pitch of this series? All kidding aside, this first round matchup against the Marlins will likely have Cubs’ fans quaking in their boots as the memories of the 2003 NLCS still haunt them to this very day regardless of the fact that the organization has won a World Series since. Though Chicago ended up taking down the NL Central for the third time in the last five seasons, its overall body of work questions as to whether it’s indeed the best overall team in the division. The offense struggled to put runs on the board and come up in the clutch all season long. While the starting staff was tough as nails in ranking No. 2 in the quality start department, the bullpen leaves much to be desired with Jeremy Jeffress arguably the unit’s best arm. The Marlins proved to be ahead of schedule in terms of the rebuild this season. Though it doesn’t do anything exceptionally well, the Fish are a gritty team that simply has a knack for hanging around. That could prove problematic for the Cubs regardless of the fact that they’re the second biggest favorite to advance out of this round in the NL -190.
Padres vs. Cardinals
The Friars were all the rage for most of the regular season but fizzled out towards the tail end in dropping seven of nine before busting the brooms out on the rival San Francisco Giants to close the regular season out. As evidenced by leading the league in hitting grand slams which earned them the moniker “Slam Diego,” the Padres are one of the few teams in the playoffs that can hang a crooked number on the board in the blink of an eye. The same can’t be said of a Cardinals squad that owns one of the worst offenses of any of the 16 playoff qualifiers. It doesn’t hit home runs No. 30 and it doesn’t steal bases No. 27. Where the team excels is on the bump where it ranks amongst the top 10 in most pertinent pitching categories. It also holds a slight advantage over the Padres in the pen. Still, I don’t think that’s going to be enough for St. Louis to overcome Fernando Tatis Jr. and company. The series odds dictate as such with San Diego installed decided -175 favorites to advance into the next round.
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