The Houston Astros came into the MLB Postseason as the betting favorite to come out of the American League, but they’ll be facing a true underdog in the World Series in the Philadelphia Phillies. Let’s dive deeper into some World Series MVP betting odds and trends including Bryce Harper and Yordan Alvarez.
Philadelphia’s dream run through the playoffs included series wins as underdogs in all of the Wild Card Series (defeating the St. Louis Cardinals), NLDS (defeating the Atlanta Braves), and NLCS (defeating the San Diego Padres). They’ll find themselves as the underdogs, once again, against the Astros, but slugger Bryce Harper is right up there with Astros outfielder Yordan Alvarez as favorites to win the World Series MVP.
Check out the full MVP odds below, via BetMGM:
Bettors Favoring Astros Stars in World Series MVP Wagers
Per BetMGM's John Ewing, Bryce Harper has the highest amount of tickets on him at 12%, following by Yordan Alvarez at 10% and Justin Verlander at 5%. But the highest amount of money is on Alvarez (19%), Alex Bregman (13%) and Harper (11%).
Perhaps there's some value of players a little bit lower on the odds list, though. For starters, Phillies sluggers Kyle Schwarber (+1300) and Rhys Hoskins (+1800) went through the NLCS scorching hot and could be poised to keep it going against the Astros.
Schwarber finished the NLCS slashing .400/.571/1.00 with three home runs, four RBIs and just three strike outs compared to six walks. Hoskins slashed .222/.300/.889 but came through with a few clutch home runs, hitting four throughout the series with seven RBIs.
If you're set on taking a player on the favorite, Astros, then there could be some value in Jose Altuve at +1300. During his 12 years with the Astros, Altuve has asserted himself as the heart and soul of the team. And while his bat has yet to get going this postseason, it's hard to believe he'll stay quiet for the entirety of the playoffs after slashing .300/.387/.553 during the regular season.
Game 1 between the Astros and Phillies is set for Friday night.
