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The MLB season is in its home stretch and there’s really only one division race left to follow.
The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers are mired in a ridiculous one-on-one battle for the NL West crown. The two teams have the two-best records in the majors.
It’s really a shame that the two best teams in MLB would have to face off in the NLDS instead of further along in the playoffs.
Entering play on Tuesday, the Giants hold a two and a half game (94-50) over the Dodgers (92-53) for the division. The next best record in MLB belong to the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays, which each have 89-55 marks.
At PointsBet and DraftKings, the Giants are -150 favorites to win the NL West while the Dodgers are +120. FanDuel lists the Giants at -150, too, but the Dodgers are +125 at that sportsbook.
Los Angeles had been as short as -210 to repeat as division champions as recently as MLB trade deadline day on July 31. The Dodgers were three games down to San Francisco on that day and have not usurped them since.
The Giants were +270 to win the division entering play on July 31.
San Francisco clinched at least a postseason birth on Monday with a victory over the San Diego Padres, who were also in contention for the NL West as recently as August but have dropped off precipitously since.
In mid-July, the Giants were third-best at +375 at DraftKings to win the division, longer than the Padres at +325 and Dodgers at -230. The Giants were two games up at the time.
FanGraphs gives the Giants about a 59% chance to win the division while the Dodgers have a roughly 41% chance as of Tuesday.
The only other divisional race that may be worth mentioning is in the NL East, where the Braves hold a 4.5-game lead on the Philadelphia Phillies and 5.5-game lead on the New York Mets as of Tuesday.
The Braves are -650 to win the division at DraftKings while the Phillies are +700 and the Mets +1300.
On trade deadline day, the Mets had been -300 favorites to win the division while the Phillies were +425 and the Braves +500.
The Brewers have locked down the NL Central and odds aren’t even available for the division at every major American sportsbook.
The Astros are -10000 to win the AL West, as are the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.
Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox are an insane -100000 to win the AL Central at DraftKings.
