And then there were eight.
The MLB Division Series round of the postseason will get underway Saturday, with eight teams getting set to battle it out for the right to advance to the Championship Series of their respective leagues.
The dogs were barking in the two American League Wild Card series, with both the Detroit Tigers (+145 odds) and the Kansas City Royals (also +145 to win series) performing sweeps over the Houston Astros and Baltimore Orioles, respectively.
In the National League, the San Diego Padres swept the Atlanta Braves as series favourites, and the New York Mets prevailed in three games over the Milwaukee Brewers thanks to Pete Alonso’s heroics on Thursday night, when he blasted a three-run homer to put New York ahead in the top of the ninth inning.
Let’s take a look at the updated World Series futures odds courtesy of bet365:
| Team | World Series Odds | To Win League |
| New York Yankees | +300 | -105 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | +310 | +180 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | +350 | +190 |
| San Diego Padres | +600 | +300 |
| Cleveland Guardians | +1000 | +370 |
| Detroit Tigers | +1200 | +390 |
| New York Mets | +1200 | +550 |
| Kansas City Royals | +1400 | +475 |
Division series prices
Detroit Tigers (+105) vs. Cleveland Guardians (-125)
Oddsmakers are giving the surging Tigers a lot of respect with this series price (+105) and rightfully so. Momentum is a big factor to consider in the MLB playoffs, and the Tigers are embracing the role of the Cinderalla team of this postseason.
Cleveland took the season series, 7-6, outscoring the Tigers 60-50 in the 13 regular season meetings. However, the Guardians won five of those games by a single run, including two walk-off victories. The two teams last played on July 30 before the trade deadline.
Expect to see a lot of pitching changes in this series, as both teams like to get the job done by committee, unless Tarik Skubal is pitching for the Tigers. Cleveland’s bullpen is electric, recording the best ERA (2.57), WHIP (1.05) and the most holds (122) in the majors this season. Guardians relievers also held the opposition to a .203 batting average (best in MLB) while posting an elite 9.23 K/9 rate.
The Tigers will love the best-of-five series schedule, as there are days off between games 1 and 2, and 4 and 5, which means Skubal could have the opportunity to pitch twice in the series on normal rest, if it goes the distance.
Pick: This series should be fascinating and go the distance (+150 odds). If Skubal dominates two games, the Tigers should find a way to snag one additional win in the series and advance. However, Cleveland’s stable of reliable arms out of the bullpen should be the most influential factor in the series. I’m not picking a winner here, but will back the series to need all five games.
Kansas City Royals (+180) vs. New York Yankees (-220)
A tip of the cap to the Royals for prevailing in the Wild Card against the Orioles, but the Yankees are a completely different beast. It’s unlikely Kansas City, which has scored one run or less in eight of its last 12 games, can keep up offensively with the Yankees, who averaged over five runs per game this season.
The Yankees went 5-2 against the Royals during the regular season, outscoring them 42-24. They’ll also have the rest advantage in this five-game series, with ace Gerrit Cole locked, loaded and ready for Game 1. Kansas City used its best two starting pitchers, Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo, in its sweep over the Orioles, so Michael Wacha is the likely Game 1 starter.
Kansas City will have to find a way to keep maneuvering around the dynamic duo of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto in order to have a chance in this series. They did a relatively good job of taming them during the regular season, holding Judge to a .250 batting average with just one homer and Soto to a .273 mark with a single blast. Soto did boast an impressive .484 on-base percentage in the seven games against Kansas City, though.
Pick: The Royals have had a great season, but the buck stops here. Take the Yankees on the -1.5 series spread at -120 odds because there’s too much juice on the -220 series outright odds.
San Diego Padres (+120) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (-140)
What an absolute treat this series is going to be. For the third time in the past five seasons, these two teams will meet in the Division Series, with the Padres getting the last laugh by ousting the Dodgers in 2022. This time around, oddsmakers are giving the Padres a ton of respect by making them slight underdogs against the banged-up Dodgers.
The Dodgers are especially thin in the pitching department, with Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Gavin Stone, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, and others on the shelf. It would be downright scary for all of the other teams in the postseason if Los Angeles had all of these guys healthy and firing on all cylinders, but that’s not the case, which has really levelled the playing field across the board. As far as position players go, Freddie Freeman isn’t 100% with an ankle sprain, and Miguel Rojas is still recovering from a left adductor tear.
San Diego is also dealing with a few injuries. Ha-Seong Kim has been officially shut down and will undergo shoulder surgery. And right-hander Joe Musgrove suffered an elbow injury in Game 2 against Atlanta and is unlikely to be available for this series, which means Yu Darvish will have an elevated role in this series.
Pick: This series reeks of an upset in favour of the Padres, who took eight of the 13 regular season meetings with Los Angeles. Back the Friars at +120 to take down the mighty Dodgers who just have too many injuries to overcome.
New York Mets (+160) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (-190)
The Mets are flying high after their thrilling Game 3 win over the Brewers on Thursday, and they’re hoping that momentum carries over to this series with the Phillies, who took the regular season series, 7-6, with the Mets. Philadelphia will have the rest advantage here and the ability to set up its rotation exactly how it wants for the five-game series.
The Phillies have been knocking at the door the last two seasons, advancing to the World Series 2022 and the NLCS last year. They’re mostly healthy aside from a back injury to outfielder Austin Hays and are legitimate World Series threats with their powerful lineup and one-two punch of Aaron Nola and Zach Wheeler in the rotation.
Pick: It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Mets capitalize on their momentum and steal Game 1 of this series as around +155 underdogs, but the Phillies are the better team and should advance to the NLCS after a long and tough series with New York.