October is coming and Top Bet has you covered as we break down the six divisions in baseball with an eye on which teams have the best shot of winning their respective pennants. With lots of baseball still to play it’s a great time to get in on the action. Check out our look at the AL West below and then check out our previews of other divisions, like the NL East and AL Central.
The American League West has been a cauldron of hot baseball teams throughout the first half of the season. With the Oakland A’s, the Los Angeles Angels, and the Seattle Mariners all playing magnificently, the second half portends a wild finish. Will the A’s continue to lord it over in the division? Or will the Angels or Mariners take down the defending AL West champions?
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AL West Race Odds, Analysis, and Prediction
Favorites – Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels
It was smooth-sailing for the Oakland A’s during the first half of the season despite suffering two big injuries to key pitchers even before the season began. When starters Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin suffered season-ending elbow injuries, pitching immediately became a point of concern for the A’s. But a majors-best 61-37 record, a 3.09 team ERA, and an astonishing +50 run differential mirror just how fine Oakland has been thus far on the season. Currently, the A’s are the odds-on-favorites to win the AL West at -200.
[sc:MLB240banner ]Scott Kazmir and Sonny Gray valiantly carried the A’s pitching staff into becoming one of the best in the majors, and with the addition of a top-of-the-rotation starters in Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, the A’s have definitely done a good job of ensuring that their rotation won’t be prone to burnout as the season progresses.
But pitching comprises only half of the success the incredibly balanced A’s are having. To go along with Oakland’s superb performance on the mound, the A’s batting has accumulated 485 runs, second-most in the big leagues to the A’s chief rival in the AL West: the Los Angeles Angels (489).
In any other division, the Halos’ 59-38 record would be good enough to take the No. 1 spot, but unfortunately for them, they are playing in the same division as the A’s. However, they are just 1.5 games back of Oakland, and with the way they closed out the first half – 12-2 in the last 14 – the Angels are primed to overtake the A’s soon, especially if they continue to pound the ball as well as they have since the start of July.
With Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols, and Mike Trout all healthy, the Angels (+120) have become the hottest club at the plate this month. The Angels are also No. 1 in hits (150), RBIs (86), and batting average (.312) during the same period.
High-Value Sleeper – Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are on the outside looking in in the AL West, and they could make the division race even more interesting if they can improve on their offense in the second half. The Mariners are ranked just 18th in the majors in runs. Keeping the team afloat is Felix Hernandez and the rest of Seattle’s pitching staff, which owns an ERA of 3.10 and the lowest opponents’ batting average in the majors (.226).
The Mariners front office could be cooking up a couple of trades to shore up their offense, and if general manager Jack Zduriencik does pull the right strings, their price of +1,500 to win the AL West could end up being extremely valuable.
It’s going to be a wild second half. Create a betting account now and select the teams you like to win each division.
Key Player – Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels)
The best player in the AL West is also arguably the best player in the majors right now – Mike Trout. After coming up short in the MVP balloting the last two seasons, Trout is in the MVP-race picture again after collecting video-game numbers during the first half. The 22-year-old center fielder has a .310 batting average, 22 home runs, 73 RBIs, and an on-base plus slugging percentage of 1.048, all of which are tops among all Angels.
Key Series – September 26-28 – Los Angeles Angels @ Seattle Mariners
If the Seattle Mariners would indeed make it a three-way race in the division, and factoring in the likelihood that the AL West could produce at least one Wild Card team, then this series has the potential to determine which among the Oakland A’s, the Los Angeles Angels, and the Seattle Mariners would win the division and enter the postseason.
Writer’s Prediction
The Oakland A’s will claim their fourth-straight AL West crown.
