After a regular season that dragged on a little towards the later stages, the playoffs of the 2017 Major League Baseball season are final upon us. The last two days of play saw some exciting matches in the wildcard playoffs, with the Yankees and Diamondbacks both securing great wins to punch their ticket into the post season. We take a look at all four matchups in the Division Series of the playoffs and give our betting tips below.
2017 MLB Division Series Betting Tips
Cleveland Indians vs New York Yankees
The Yankees were able to defeat the Twins in the wildcard playoff to advance to the divisional round where they will meet the AL’s number one seed, the Cleveland Indians. What a year it was for the Cleveland Indians after the heartbreak of losing the World Series in a stunning seven game series against the Cubs last year. They came back with a vengeance in 2017 and while all the talk was about the Dodgers through the first half of the season, the Indians were head and shoulders above any other team in the second half, highlighted by their AL record 22 game win streak.
The Indians boast a strong starting rotation that will consist of Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar. Kluber in particular has been lights out throughout the season and is the front runner for the American League Cy Young award. They won 5 out of 7 games against the Yankees this year and their ridiculous +254 run difference throughout the year justifies their $1.57 opening price.
Yankees ace Luis Severino only threw 29 pitches before he was pulled from the wildcard game so he may be ready to go on fewer days rest but its likely New York will still only get one start out of him with some potential to come out of the bullpen if the series goes deep. The Yankees rotation is a little thin after Severino and given the form the Indian bats are in at the moment we think they should take this series comfortably.
TIP: Cleveland to win series - $1.57 at bet365
Houston Astros vs Boston Red Sox
A really interesting matchup here sees the Astros facing off against the Red Sox in the ALDS. Houston were able to steer themselves to 101 wins this season on the back of the best offence in the league. They racked up the most hits and most runs of any team in the Major Leagues on the back of some MVP worthy play by short stop Jose Altuve and backed up by the likes of George Springer and Carlos Correa. If the Astros offence gets into any sort of form in this series, Boston will struggle to keep up.
Boston’s strength in this series relies in their bullpen. Craig Kimbrel is the best closer in the league and is backed up in the pen by Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes, Addison Reed and potentially David Price. Their rotation is top heavy, however, with lefty Chris Sale set to do the bulk of the work followed by Drew Pomeranz, Rick Porcello and Eduardo Rodriguez. The shorter five game series might slightly favour the Red Sox because Sale could get two starts.
Tough series to call but the signs pointing to a Houston win are just outweighing that of a Red Sox victory at the moment. Sale would have to be absolutely lights out in both of his starts for the Sox to have a chance and even then you have to stop the Houston offence in one of the other three games.
TIP: Houston to win 3-1 - $4.50 at bet365
Chicago Cubs vs Washington Nationals
The Nationals boast arguably the best starting rotation in the post season with Max Scherzer, Stephen Strausburg, Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark set to take the mound in this series. Some concerns lie over ace Scherzer’s hamstring, however, and with star outfielder Bryce Harper also battling a knee injury, the Nationals could be slightly depleted for the series.
Chicago will go into the series at relative full strength and while their rotation doesn’t boast the star-power that some of the others do, they are one of the more consistent combinations one through four. Jose Quintana, Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta have all proven themselves in big games and all have good records against the Nationals.
The Nationals have opened as favourites here but it’s hard to look past the pedigree of the Cubs line-up that was huge in the post season last year. Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber as well as their starting rotation were all great in the last half of the year and if they can continue that form they should cause an upset here.
TIP: Chicago to win series - $2.10 at bet365
Los Angeles Dodgers vs Arizona Diamondbacks
Forget their slow last half of the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers were still the most dominant team in baseball in 2017 and they boast a ridiculous starting rotation. Three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw is untouchable even on his worse days and he’ll be backed up by Yu Darvish, Alex Wood and Rich Hill, who all had great seasons in Dodger colours.
The Diamondbacks were able to sneak into the post season after overcoming the Colarado Rockies 11-8. That should make it tough for them as ace Zack Greinke will likely only be able to start in one game. Their rotation does go relatively deep, however, with Zach Godley, Robbie Ray and Patrick Corbin taking place on the mound.
Hard to make any sort of a case for the Diamondbacks here. If worst comes to worst for the Dodgers and this series goes deep, Arizona will face Kershaw twice, which is a daunting prospect, LA should take this one comfortably.
TIP: LA Dodgers to win – market not yet available
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