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September Coming soon, another update to our Power Rankings is here. We’ll see how they align with the odds of winning the World Series on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Power Ranking: No. 1 (No. 1 last week)
World Series odds: +350
The Dodgers remain relatively stagnant overall as they remain at the top of our power rankings and win the world from +360 to +350 contest. With the top seed essentially locked in the National League, the Dodgers would win a first-round bye and then face a series title between the first and second-best NL wild-card teams. If the season ends today, it’s the Warriors and the Phillies. The Dodgers have completed two series against those teams and are 4-2 against the Warriors and 3-4 against the Phillies.
The Dodgers will welcome three teams this week as they After wrapping up a four-game series with the Marlins on Monday night, they will then visit the Mets in three games before hosting the Padres three. They will have a very favorable schedule for the rest of September, most of which will be against the National League West. They’ve completely dominated their division, going 35-12 with a winning percentage of .744. At the time of this writing, the Dodgers are just 12 games away from reaching the victory of the century, a feat that should be accomplished within a few weeks. If you haven’t played on this team yet, you still have time at a solid number.
New York Mets Power Ranking: No. 2 (Last Week: No. 3) World Series Odds: +550
The Mets move up one spot this week against the Phillies, Yankees and Rockies after going 4-3. After losing both games to a brief two-game series against New York rivals in the AL, the Mets took three-quarters at home against the Rocks. Excellent pitching from Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom continued to carry this bowler. The pair pitched 70 innings throughout August with a 2.44 ERA, 11.5 K/9, 1.1 BB/9 and 0.51 HR/9. The two also stranded 73.5 percent of the men who approached them. In my opinion and many others, this remains the biggest hurdle any team needs to overcome in the playoffs.
The biggest factor going forward for the Mets will be their eventual in seed Location. Once holding a double-digit lead in East Holland, the Mets are now just three games ahead of the Warriors. If they fall out of the division lead, they’ll have the best NL Wild Card record. Of course, avoiding the wild card round is huge, so the Mets will have something to play for the rest of the season. If the Mets slide out of the division lead, they currently play the Padres. Despite their recent difficulties, the Padres still have a very strong roster and it’s going to be a tough draw for any team that has to play them. I’ve really liked the Mets this season, but if they lose their division lead, things could get a little risky. When the Mets and Padres faced off earlier this season, the Mets went 2-4, and that was before all the big trades happened.
New York Yankees Power Ranking: 5th (5th last week) World Series odds: +450
It was only a matter of time before the Yankees could get back on track and things were getting better. Going 5-2 this week was a huge win for the team, although, oddly, both losses came back-to-back against the track. That comes after five straight wins over the Blue Jays, the Mets and the first two games of a four-game series with the A’s. Still, they’ve averaged 4.4 runs per game over the past week, nearly double what they did in a month. I know – the bar to clear is low.
The return of Giancarlo to Stanton is a great addition to the Yankees’ roster. As we talked about last week, the lack of pitching against Aaron Judge really had a knock-on effect on the rest of the lineup. Now, the team is forced to throw the ball to the referee again. Well, the immediate results don’t reflect that, the judges are 1-for-13 since Stanton’s return, but it’s sure to align again.
My biggest concern with the Yankees going forward remains pitching. I’m concerned that the Jordan Montgomery trade will haunt the club as they just lost Nestor Cortez on the injured list to a left groin strain. Clark Schmidt, who was recalled to be part of the rotation, was in immediate trouble in his first start against the track team. In just 4 1/3 innings, he was flagged for 4 of 8 hits. Luis Severino plans to start the minor leagues later this week, so these could be the reinforcements the Yankees need. Still, the rotation now looks a bit like I like it.
Tampa Bay Rays
Power Ranking: No. 8 Bit (12th last week) World Series odds: +3500
What if I told you that the team that made the biggest leap in our power rankings was a team manage? I like to miss the playoffs completely? Yeah, that’s where I’m currently with the Rays. That seems absurd when you consider that they currently have the top spot among wild-card teams at halftime. However, I think there might be a way to this madness, and we’ll discuss it.
You can bet the Rays make the playoffs and miss out on DraftKings Sportsbook playoffs. Currently, YES is -370 and NO is +290. I really don’t think the value is there, it’s the timeline of the upcoming light that caught my eye. They have one of the toughest remaining schedules in all of baseball, and their opponents have a .545 overall winning percentage. In the remaining 35 games, the Rays will play a combined 24 against the Astros, Yankees, Blue Jays and Guardians. That’s 68 percent of their remaining schedule. The remaining games include two for the Marlins, three for the Rangers and six for the Red Sox. The Rays are only 32-33 and 28-34 on aggregate against teams above .500, and they have 19 of their games (54%) on the road.
On the other hand, some teams competing for wild card spots, such as The Twins and the White Sox, and some of the easiest schedules. By the end of the season, it’s not impossible for the AL Central to have two playoff teams. Despite their recent woes, the Twins and the White Sox are still in the hunt. The Twins are three games behind, while the White Sox are six games behind. The Twins are more likely to be one of the two, but the White Sox could also benefit from a soft schedule. Facing teams below .500, the Twins will see 24 of the remaining 36 games, and they lead 41-27.
The calendar is coming to September soon.
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