- The Los Angeles Dodgers are favorites to win the World Series, with +450 odds to do so.
- The Dodgers are the only team with odds lower than +750, and the only NL team with odds below +1000.
- Their lineup is one of the best in history, but their pitching is fragile, and they only have three truly good starting pitchers.
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Dodgers once again enter a new MLB season as the favorites to win the World Series.
The Dodgers are a loaded team, despite the loss of Max Scherzer in free agency, and the loss of Trevor Bauer to a host of sexual misconduct allegations.
2022 MLB World Series Winner Odds
- Los Angeles Dodgers +450
- Toronto Blue Jays +800
- Houston Astros +950
- New York Mets +1000
- New York Yankees +1000
- Chicago White Sox +1100
- Atlanta Braves +1200
- Boston Red Sox +1500
- Milwaukee Brewers +1500
- San Diego Padres +1500
The online sportsbooks surely believe in the Dodgers, especially as their main rivals in the NL - the Mets, Padres, and Braves - are all at or above +1000 odds.
Potential Dodgers Upside: Hitting
The Dodgers added Freddie Freeman in Free Agency, creating arguably one of the most loaded lineups in the history of Major League Baseball.
LA Dodgers Projected Lineup
- Mookie Betts, R, RF
- Freddie Freeman, L, 1B
- Trea Turner, R, S
- Max Muncy, L, 2
- Will Smith, R,
- Justin Turner, R, 3
- Cody Bellinger, L, C
- Chris Taylor, R, L
- AJ Pollock, R, DH
With the removal of the requirements that pitchers hit in games while they are pitching, the Dodgers are now free to send out AJ Pollock as a DH - and unlike most, he’ll be batting ninth, because the rest of the hitters on the team are so good.
There is only one player in this lineup who has not been an All-Star, Will Smith, who is arguably the best offensive catcher in baseball.
Freeman is an important bat to this team because he bats lefty, giving the lineup more balance with Freeman, Cody Bellinger, and Max Muncy ready to punish overconfident pitchers.
Potential Dodgers Downside: Pitching
Even without Bauer and Scherzer, the Dodgers still have Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urias, and Walker Beuhler to form a pitching core around.
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They lost some depth in the form of Joe Kelly and Corey Knebel, as well as their longtime closer Kenley Jansen.
It’s not like this team is wholly unbalanced - they have great talent on the mound - but they do struggle with depth, and an injury to one of their star starters could be a huge problem.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts noted this as well. When asked what his biggest worries were, Roberts responded “I think probably starting pitching depth.”
After Urias, Buehler, and Kershaw, the rotation gets pretty questionable. Right now, their projected fourth and fifth starters are Tony Gonsolin and Andrew Heaney.
Gonsolin had a FIP of 4.54 in 2021, while Heaney had a 5.83 ERA. These are not promising numbers from starting pitchers on a World Series favorite.
The Dodgers might be built more for a playoff push - a situation where they can ride their starters hard - than they are for the regular season.
Of course, their lineup is so good that they might be able to win 100 games anyway - the MLB sportsbooks give the +210 odds to have the best record in the league.
Maxwell joined the USAOnlineSportsbooks team in 2019. He focuses on creating sports betting content that informs and educates. He focuses on the NBA, the NFL, College Football and Basketball, and whatever else comes across his desk.
