If you followed the preseason betting advice we gave you last year on Shohei Ohtani and Corbin Burnes, then in all likelihood you are now — like me — a multi-thousandaire.
Feels pretty good, right?
Let’s hope we can repeat that success with a few recommended team and player-related wagers available now via BetMGM. Below you’ll find nine bets I’ve placed with maximum confidence regarding the season ahead.
I can, of course, make no promises about any of these, as I am not actually a visitor from the future. But after having willed that Ohtani season to happen, I feel several of these are gonna work out …
Four of the five teams in the AL West are actually attempting to win games this season and the A’s, apparently, are actively trying to lose them. Let’s not overthink this. Oakland has dealt or shooed away most of the talent from last year’s roster and Frankie Montas could be traded at any moment. This is clearly a potential 100-loss team.
Carlos Rodon UNDER 187.5 strikeouts
This line is set at a number that Rodon has never reached in any major league season. He’s great when healthy, obviously, but it’s no lock he’ll pitch even 140 innings. To me, this simply seems like a wildly aggressive total.
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The Brewers have elite starting pitching, an elite bullpen and a deep, talented lineup. This team is plainly the class of its division. Sixteen of Milwaukee’s first 24 games are against the Cubs, Orioles and Pirates; we could be discussing magic numbers by the end of June.
The Great Schwarbino launched 32 home runs in only 113 games last season and he hit 38 back in 2019. He landed in a terrific park for left-handed power, so no worries there. This is a total that’s reachable for Schwarber with ease, even if he hits the IL a time or two. I like him at +2000 to lead MLB in homers, too.
C.J. Abrams NL Rookie of the Year (+1000)
Abrams is a consensus top-10 prospect who’s been terrific this spring (.324/.361/.529, 2 HR, 3 SB), plus the Padres have an immediate need for his services with Fernando Tatis Jr. likely sidelined until June. Abrams has swiped 28 bags in 76 career minor league games while hitting .343. He’s legit. It sounds as if he might initially have the heavy side of a platoon, which is perfectly fine for fantasy and futures purposes.
I like Bogaerts as an MVP candidate with friendly odds, so it’s not much of a stretch for me to think he can lead baseball in a category or two. He’s a heart-of-the-order hitter surrounded by guys who can rake and he already has a pair of triple-digit RBI seasons on his resume.
Wisdom is a low-average, low-OBP flyball hitter who isn’t obviously better than Jonathan Villar. Of course, he did hit 28 bombs for the Cubs last season in just 106 games and he twice hit 30-plus in the minors, so it’s not as if he doesn’t have significant power. Still, the most reliable projection systems peg him to finish shy of 27 homers. I can’t make a particularly strong case that he needs to be in the Cubs’ lineup every day.
Eloy Jimenez OVER 90.5 RBIs
If we can simply get 135 or more games from Jimenez, this is happening. He won’t lack opportunities to drive in runs while hitting behind guys like Luis Robert, Jose Abreu and Yasmani Grandal. Also, Jimenez is a good bet to drive himself in via homer, 30 or more times in a healthy season.
Liam Hendriks MLB saves leader (+1100)
Here’s a top-tier closer tied to a team that’s likely to win 90-plus games. Somewhat surprisingly, our friends at BetMGM consider five different relievers more likely to lead the majors in saves. I’ll gladly take Hendriks at +1100 (or Josh Hader at +1600). It’s nice to have Craig Kimbrel out of the mix as well, not that Hendriks’ position atop the bullpen hierarchy was ever in doubt.
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