If you had bet at the beginning of the season that the 2023 World Series would pit the Texas Rangers against the Arizona Diamondbacks, you’d be a rich bettor today. Preseason odds were +6000 for the Rangers to win the World Series and the Diamondbacks even a longer shot at +12500. If you wanted to predict this very matchup, you could have gotten +175000 on BetMGM.
And even when these two teams made the playoffs in early October, they were still undervalued. But they fought through it and here we are on the eve of this unpredictable World Series.
The Rangers are favored to win the Series at -174, leaving the Dbacks at +146. Neither team has been to the World Series for over a decade with the Rangers losing two World Series in 2010 and 2011 and the Dbacks winning their only championship in 2001 when a single by Luis Gonzalez beat the New York Yankees legendary closer Mariano Rivera. Texas has never won a World Series, going back to their roots as the expansion Washington Senators in 1961.
Playoff Format Receives Criticism
Some purists have complained about the structure of the playoffs, believing it penalized the better teams. Both the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League had byes and were off a week before their first game. The results were similar, as the Dodgers were swept by the Dbacks, a team they dominated during the regular season. The Braves lost in four games to the Philadelphia Phillies, who were also hapless against the division winners. In the American League, the impressive Baltimore Orioles were swept by Texas. The other bye, the Houston Astros, lost in seven games to the Rangers.
Another playoff oddity was the strength of road teams. The Rangers are 8-0 on the road and the Dbacks are almost as strong at 6-2. Both teams won their league championship series by sweeping the last two of seven games on the road, a feat never before accomplished.
Who wins World Series MVP?
The always popular bet of World Series MVP is also quite interesting with the Rangers Corey Seager at +500. He was the World Series MVP in 2000 with the Dodgers. Adolis Garcia, who starred in the Astros series, is at +550. For the Rangers, the almost certain Rookie of the Year winner Corbin Carrol, and Ketel Marte are tied at +1000. But since it’s often an unheralded player that wins the series MVP. You might take a chance on the Rangers’ Marcus Semien (+1400) or the Dbacks’ Christian Walker (+1600).
Other World Series Bets to Make
Another popular bet is the winner in a certain number of games. The sweep is always most unlikely, with the Rangers sweep going at +825 and the Dbacks coming in at +1300. The shortest odds are the Rangers winning in six games at +310 and the Dbacks in seven at +550.
The first two games will be played in Texas by virtue of their better record over the regular season. But the Dbacks won three out of four regular season games against Texas, denying them a bye by winning the last game of the regular season, giving the Astros the bye.
The pitching matchup in Game 1 is interesting, with the Dbacks ace Zac Gallen going against the Rangers No. 2 starter Nathan Eovaldi. Gallen hasn’t had a great postseason, while Eovaldi is filling in for Jacob DeGrom, who Texas signed for more than $100 million in the offseason and who promptly got injured early in the regular season.
Texas is favored in Game 1 at -145, or you can take the Dbacks at +125. The Texas pitcher for Game 2 is another multi-million dollar arm in Max Scherzer. He has been more than shaky in his two postseason starts. And the Dbacks bullpen has been amazing in the postseason, so if pitching wins series as some believe, maybe the Dbacks get the edge.
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