Dee Friedman
- The Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox are set to square off in the World Series
- Game 1 will take place Tuesday night at Fenway Park in Boston
- Who should you bet on to win the World Series?
Two blue bloods meet to decide the 2018 World Series. This is in stark contrast to the Astros last year, and Royals in 2015. While the Cubs, who won their first title in a century two years ago, are economic power players, any Cubs championship must be labeled an upset too. That is not the case with LA and Boston.
Boston owns the highest payroll in baseball and won the most games during the regular season. The Sox won it all in 2004, 2007, and 2013.
Though the Dodgers have not won a championship since 1988, this is LA’s sixth straight playoff appearance. The Dodgers have the third highest payroll, and led MLB in attendance this year.
Boston reached the World Series with relative ease. The Red Sox lost just one game in both the Division and Championship Series. Meanwhile, LA was pushed to Game 7 in the NLCS after eliminating Atlanta in four games in their first series.
Let’s take a look at the current odds to win the 2018 World Series, and make a prediction based on the prices.
Odds to Win the 2018 World Series
| Team | Odds to Win the 2018 World Series at Bovada |
| Boston | -165 |
| Los Angeles | +135 |
All odds are available at Bovada.
Boston Red Sox
What’s not to like? The Red Sox dominated the American League, which boasted the teams with the four best records in the sport. They won the AL East by eight games. That’s the same division the Yankees call home. New York was one of three teams in baseball with 100 wins this year. When they played New York in the playoffs, they dismissed them easily.
While the Dodgers were forced to do everything they could to get by Milwaukee, the Red Sox have been resting since Friday. That means the rotation is set, the bullpen is fresh, and nagging injuries have had time to heal.
And speaking of the pitching, Chris Sale is ready to go now after his stomach ailment which turned out not to be as bizarre as once thought. Either way, he has the second best WAR of any American League pitcher, and whoever is on the mound usually gets support.
Boston led MLB in runs scored. In the playoffs the Red Sox have tallied 56 runs, 13 more than any other team. Boston had the highest batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage during the regular season.
A lineup that features Mookie Betts, JD Martinez, Andrew Benintendi, and Xander Bogaerts is versatile, deep, and very difficult to deal with.
The Red Sox scored an MLB high 876 runs this year. Only the Yankees were even close to being as high octane on offense as Boston. The Astros’ 797 runs were fourth best in the AL, and fifth overall.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Since the Red Sox have home field advantage, it is good that the Dodgers are comfortable away from home. Not only did LA win more regular season games on the road than they did at home, they clinched the Division Series in Atlanta, and won game seven in Milwaukee to advance to the World Series.
In contrast to the Red Sox, LA wins on the mound. They allowed fewer runs than all other NL squads during the regular season, and have yielded just nine runs in seven postseason victories. Clayton Kershaw seems to have gotten over some playoff struggles earlier in his career to be completely dominant. It’s not just Kershaw. Thirteen Dodgers have pitched in the playoffs. Five have not given up a run, two others have allowed just one, and seven of 13 have surrendered two runs or fewer.
While LA’s offensive numbers are not as gaudy as the pitching, they led the National League in runs scored, and consider their best offensive player, Manny Machado didn’t join the team until the trade deadline. Machado’s nine postseason runs batted in are tied for the most in baseball, and his 22 total bases are second during the playoffs. Along with Matt Kemp and Cody Bellinger, the middle of LA’s lineup can not be taken lightly.
Who to Bet on to Win the World Series
The odds indicate Boston has just over a 60% chance of winning. How can you argue with that? They were the best team in the regular season, have been the most dominant team in the playoffs, are rested, and have homefield advantage. Betting favorites isn’t a ton of fun, but it can be a good way to cash tickets.
