Top 10 Major League Baseball future bets for 2023
10. Astros to win AL West
The Houston Astros are the defending World Series Champions and they might have even gotten better this offseason.
The addition of first-baseman Jose Abreu adds to an already impressive infield that contains Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve. However, Altuve could miss two months after needing surgery from a hand injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic.
The 106-win team from a year ago brings back much of its pitching rotation along with the power-hitting outfield duo of Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker.
This team doesn’t have much competition in the AL West, which is why bet365 Sportsbook & Racebook lists them at -200 to win the division.
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9. Astros best regular season record
As mentioned above, the Astros are by far the most put together team in the AL West. With 52 games against division opponents, this gives Houston an advantage to come away with the best record in baseball over some other top teams like the Yankees and Dodgers.
The Yankees will have to battle it out with the ever-improving Blue Jays along with the Rays. Even the Red Sox can give the Yankees trouble because a Yankees-Red Sox series always has meaning behind it.
The Dodgers will be fighting with the Padres in the NL West as the Padres added Xander Bogaerts to the already frightening lineup.
The Mariners, while getting better, are still young and, if history has told us anything, the Angels with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, will have injury problems at some point this season.
Everygame Sportsbook has the Astros as the favorite to finish with the best record in baseball.
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8. Red Sox over 77.5 wins
The Red Sox were unable to sign shortstop Xander Bogaerts in free agency, but did manage to lock up the face of the team when Rafael Devers signed a 10-year extension worth over $300 million.
However, that wasn’t the only move Boston made during the cold months in New England. The Sox signed Justin Turner and Adam Duvall to add some depth and power to the lineup. Also, Masataka Yoshida, who had an impressive World Baseball Classic run, joins the Red Sox from Japan and is looking to be the left fielder. Hopefully, a healthy Chris Sale will make it through the season to help out the pitching rotation alongside Corey Kluber and Nick Pivetta.
While losing Xander is a massive blow, the team did what it could to patch up the hole that left in the lineup. In one of the tougher divisions in baseball, the Sox will have their work cut out for them but don’t be surprised if this team finishes a few games over .500 on the season.
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RAFFY ?? ?? ?? pic.twitter.com/tnRCXoD2Cb
— Red Sox (@RedSox) March 26, 2023
7. Jacob deGrom most strikeouts
The previous New York Met star has found a new home in Texas. Jacob deGrom will be the Opening Day starter for the Rangers as he moves from the NL to the AL.
Pitchers around the league will have to adjust to the new pitch clock rule in baseball. With the bases empty, a pitcher will have 15 seconds to throw his next pitch, and with runners on 20 seconds will be allowed. We saw many automatic balls given by umpires in spring training for pitchers not beating the clock.
Why is this significant? Well, for one thing, games will move a lot faster, which should draw more viewers. But more importantly, pitchers are going to have to adjust their routines.
However, deGrom is not known for taking his time on the mound. He is more of a get the ball back from the catcher and ready to fire kind of guy, so this shouldn’t take as much of a toll on him as it might for other pitchers.
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6. Orioles under 76.5 wins
We’ve mentioned four teams already in the AL East and how it will be a competitive division, but unfortunately, someone has to come in last and the Orioles are my prediction to fall on that sword.
Sure, Baltimore surprised many last year, finishing over .500, but the Blue Jays are much better this year and the Red Sox are sort of a wild card. The Rays are always a tough out and the Yankees have the best lineup in the division.
Unless Baltimore plays much better than its lineup and rotation shows on paper, the O’s could be in for a tough season again. I don’t think anyone is predicting another 2021 season for them when the Orioles only managed to put up 52 wins, but this is a sub-.500 team on paper and I can see them hovering around 70-72 wins for the year.
Bet $100 to win $110 on bet365 on the Orioles winning less than 77 games
5. Braves to win NL East
After losing Freddie Freeman before last season, many had doubts about the Braves, but they pushed forward and finished second in the National League, before losing in the Divisional Round to the Phillies.
There are still a lot of familiar faces in Atlanta with Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley, to name a few. The Braves added Matt Olson to replace Freeman at first base last year, but lost Dansby Swanson this offseason to free agency as he signed with the Chicago Cubs.
The Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals are not really a threat to make a division title run and the Phillies are more in the conversation than those two teams, but the real fight seems to be between the Braves and Mets.
The Mets haven’t won the division since 2015 despite having leads late in the season but, the Mets are going to be the Met as they say. Atlanta won the NL East the last five seasons and are the favorites to make it six straight.
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4. Trea Turner NL MVP
If you watched any of the World Baseball Classic, you now know the name Trea Turner. Turner tied the tournament record with five homeruns and third most RBIs with 11, behind Yoshida’s 13 RBIs for Japan in this year’s tournament.
Of Turner’s bombs, none were greater than the go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning of the quarterfinals against Venezuela that ended up being the deciding play of the game.
Turner signed this year with the Philadelphia Phillies after playing for the Nationals and Dodgers. The shortstop can do it all. He has a great glove, can hit for both power and contact, and is a great baserunner as well.
After the WBC, many will be looking at Turner more and his stats will back up the hype.
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TREA TURNER GRAND SLAM!!! pic.twitter.com/Pyf6CKMTzb
— Baseball Bros (@BaseballBros) March 19, 2023
3. Shohei Ohtani AL MVP
While Turner was the hero for the U.S. in the WBC, Japan had several. Yoshida with his record-setting 13 RBIs was one, for sure, and the pitcher who struck out Mike Trout to win the finals was the other, and that was Ohtani.
The 2021 AL MVP was the first pitcher to win that award since 2011 and the first two-way player to win the honor. Two-way player describes the positions he plays, but he is more than two-way.
A pitcher who can throw gas and can handle any batter that steps up to the plate is already more than enough to most. But for Ohtani, he adds being able to turn on a 95+ MPH fastball and put it into the seats, along with slapping a single the other way to drive in a run from second.
Oh, and don’t let me forget, he’s fast. In the WBC title game, Ohtani was able to beat out a chopper to second and made it look easy.
As long as he remains healthy, knock on wood, Ohtani could definitely win back-to-back AL MVPS and be the first to do so since Miguel Cabrera in 2012-2013.
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2. Aaron Judge most homeruns
Last year, Aaron Judge simply put on a show and fans heard Yankees’ announcer Michael Kay unleash his home run call “There it goes, see ya!” 62 times for Judge. Judge hit the most homeruns in a single season from an AL batter ever and only trailed the 73 Barry Bonds hit in 2001.
Some call Judge the true homerun king because Bonds admitted to being on steroids, but I won’t get into that debate.
I’m not saying Judge is going to put up another historic number like 62 but he is the best homerun hitter in baseball at the moment. In 2021, Judge, “only” put up 39 long balls, which is still a very impressive number.
My prediction is Judge will finish in the high-40s for homeruns this season and that should be enough to defend his homerun crown.
Bet $100 to win $600 on Everygame Sportsbook on Judge to hit the most homers
No. 62 is No. 2!
— MLB (@MLB) December 12, 2022
Aaron Judge's historic blast is the 2nd best play of 2022! pic.twitter.com/QSdde44Bdr
1. Astros to win World Series
I already spoke about how the Astros are my favorite to have the best record in baseball, so it only makes sense for me to pick them to win it all.
I can’t emphasize enough how adding one of the top first baseman in Abreu is a monster move for Houston. A solid glove at a corner infield spot and the eighth-highest batting average in baseball, Abreu adds more depth to the already scary lineup the Astros had a year ago.
If you look at the potential lineup, it is tough to see where the outs come from. Hitting is only one side of the game and I get that, but the team is also returning a majority of the pitchers that helped them claim the World Series trophy last season. Sure, Justin Verlander went to the Mets in free agency, but the starting rotation still has Framber Valdez (Opening Day starter), Cristian Javier and Lance McCullers Jr. to name a few.
The Astros are the most well-rounded team and I think that helps them win back-to-back titles and bet365 and Everygame has them as the favorites.
Bet $100 to win $600 on the Astros to win the World Series
Our #OpeningDay Starter: The Framchise pic.twitter.com/ekLykow0j9
— Houston Astros (@astros) March 24, 2023