The biggest money winners for baseball bettors this season
The New York Yankees haven’t played in a World Series since they won the title in 2009. The 15-year drought matches their longest in the last 100 years.
But the Yankees are favored to end that dry spell this season. They’re the 2-1 favorites at the Westgate SuperBook to win the American League pennant and tied for the 5-1 second choice with the Phillies to win the World Series. The Dodgers are the +325 favorites.
More importantly for daily baseball bettors, New York, the first team to win 50 games (51-26), owned the title of biggest money winner this season before Thursday’s 17-5 loss to the Orioles.
A bettor who wagered $100 (or to win $100 as a favorite) on every Yankees game this season was up $1,610, according to Covers.com.
New York has been led at the plate by the top two AL MVP favorites in Aaron Judge (-125) and Juan Soto (+325), and has been led on the mound by rookie phenom Luis Gil.
“Soto and Judge have been amazing, and Gil has been phenomenal,” Sportsline.com handicapper Micah Roberts, a former Las Vegas sportsbook director, said before Thursday’s game. “The Yankees are going to be tough to beat in the playoffs. They’re probably going to go to the World Series. I’d be surprised if they didn’t.”
Roberts said Gil is the pitcher that, so far, he has backed in every start. The Yankees went 12-2 in Gil’s first 14 starts — 10-4 on the run line (-1½) — before he suffered his first loss in more than two months against Baltimore on Thursday in his shortest outing of the season.
Gil (9-2, 2.77 ERA), who was chased after 1⅓ innings, still is one of the most profitable pitchers after starting the day with $721 in winnings, according to Covers.
Money makers
Only eight other teams have been profitable this season entering Thursday: the Guardians (45-26 record, +$1,485), Nationals (36-37, +$1,463), Orioles (48-25, +$1,133), Brewers (44-30, +$1,082), Phillies (49-25, +$819), Royals (41-34, +$684), Mariners (44-32, +$633) and Red Sox (40-35, $391).
“Cleveland has been one of the biggest shocks to me,” Roberts said. “That’s a team I think you can trust, because of the bullpen. They’re going to be in enough games.”
Cleveland’s bullpen has a 20-7 collective record and the lowest ERA in the majors at 2.36. The Guardians were a sharp preseason play to go over their season win total of 78½.
“I was very high on the Guardians before the season,” SuperBook manager Randy Blum said. “I didn’t understand why everyone was writing them off and giving the division to the Twins. I really like the Guardians’ pitching.”
Blum said the SuperBook took a lot of action against the Nationals.
“That’s one we all agreed in the office we did not understand the preseason hate for the Nationals,” he said. “We had people betting them for the worst record. Everyone was betting their season wins under.
“We looked at the team took a positive step last year and was bringing more young talent up this year. So we’re not surprised by the fact they’re just under .500 right now.”
The Brewers’ bullpen is 27-10 with a 3.23 ERA.
“The Brewers are one team we did not see this coming from,” Blum said. “They traded Corbin Burnes, and Brandon Woodruff’s out for the year. When you lose your top two pitchers, that’s usually tough to overcome.”
The Royals have made a remarkable turnaround from last year’s 56-106 record behind AL MVP contender shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (5-1).
“Kansas City is probably the biggest shock,” Roberts said. “They don’t give up and they’re so young, they don’t realize they lost (106) games last year.
“They’re just creating an electric atmosphere, and Bobby Witt, he’s got them believing.”
The SuperBook recently lowered the Mariners, who are 27-12 at home with a 25-12-2 under mark, to the 10-1 sixth choice to win the World Series.
“We really like them to make a little bit of a run here,” Blum said. “It always comes down to pitching, and they have multiple quality starters.”
Money pitchers
Washington has two of the top five money pitchers in Trevor Williams and Mitchell Parker. The Nationals are 9-2 in Williams’ starts for a leading profit of $1,161. They’re 7-5 in Parker’s starts for $639 in winnings (No. 5).
Philadelphia’s Ranger Suarez is No. 2 on the list (13-2, +$776), followed by Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee (12-3, +$736) and Gil.
Kansas City’s Alec Marsh is sixth (9-4, +$637), followed by Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller (10-5, +$629).
Paul Skenes, whom the Pirates drafted first overall in 2023, is No. 20 (6-1, +$378).
“The only money we’re really seeing on him is from sharper guys,” Blum said. “They love to bet the first five (innings).”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.