Rangers top World Series Odds
The Texas Rangers have overtaken the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros as World Series favorites at several top sportsbooks.
The team’s surge in betting odds comes after they went up 2-0 over the top-seeded Baltimore Orioles in the best-of-five American League Divisional Series (ALDS). The Braves, meanwhile, trail the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0, and the Astros are tied with the Minnesota Twins 1-1.
they were nothing more than an afterthought earlier in the year
While the Rangers are now the frontrunner to win the World Series (+350 World Series odds at BetMGM Sportsbook), they were nothing more than an afterthought earlier in the year. Let’s take a look at how they defied the odds and got to this point.
Historic rise
The Rangers opened the year at +5000 to win the World Series, the 18th-best mark in MLB. The Astros, New York Yankees and New York Mets represented the top three teams, while the Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers were close behind.
Fast forward to the end of the year and the Rangers tied the Astros for the third-best record in the American League (90-72) but lost out on the higher seed by way of tiebreaker. They shortened to +1800 World Series odds at the start of a best-of-three Wild Card against the fourth-seed Tampa Bay Rays, who went 99-63.
Rangers’ pitching staff dominated and helped the team advance past the Rays
Despite only ranking 18th in team ERA, the Rangers’ pitching staff dominated and helped the team advance past the Rays 2-0 on an aggregate score of 11-1. They shortened to +800 World Series odds following the win and ahead of a clash with the AL’s best regular-season team, the Orioles.
The arms were firing again in Game 1 of the ALDS as the Rangers beat the Orioles 3-2 without ace Max Scherzer, who is dealing with a shoulder injury. Their bullpen ranked 24th in ERA during the regular season, but allowed one earned run in 5.2 innings.
The focus shifted to offense in a high scoring Game 2 win that saw the Rangers score 11 runs on 11 hits, none bigger than Mitch Garver’s fifth-inning grand slam.
The Orioles put up eight runs of their own, but could not battle back and now head to the Lone Star State in an 0-2 hole, one game away from elimination.
Is this the breakthrough year?
If the Rangers win one of the possible next three games against the Orioles, they will face either the Astros (+500 World Series odds) or Twins (+650) in a best-of-seven. The winner will advance to the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, or Arizona Diamondbacks (listed in order of betting odds from shortest to longest).
Evan Carter and Corey Seager have been early stars in the postseason, Carter with a .500 batting average and three RBIs and Seager with a .667 OBP and three doubles. The entire pitching staff has combined to post a 2.50 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 0.75 HR/9 rate.
one of six teams to never win a World Series
The Rangers bear the unfortunate title of the MLB’s oldest and one of six teams to never win a World Series. The closest they got was in 2011 when they were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
This team has the potential to make the first breakthrough in franchise history. It ranks third in scoring, home runs, and on-base percentage, and has gotten red-hot at different points of the season.
The Rangers ripped off two six-game winning streaks in the final month of the regular season and now find themselves as winners of four straight.
However, they’ll have to overcome recent precedent in the ALCS (if they beat the Orioles), as they only went 4-9 against the Astros and 2-5 against the Twins during the regular season.