Here we are; the 2021 MLB World Series has finally arrived. Hopefully you followed the preseason pick and cashed big on the Atlanta Braves winning the NL pennant. Unfortunately the White Sox didn't hold up their end of the deal, but they tried...kind of. Even more unfortunate, the Braves are playing the Astros in the Series. Nobody outside of Houston actually likes the Astros.
So, how did we get here?
The Braves went 4 and 2 against the Dodgers; overcoming the odds. Rosario had one of the greatest NLCS performances of all time. Complimented by Albies, Riley, and Pederson coming thru in the clutch. The Braves picked their spots and came up big when the opportunity presented itself. A key pintch hit call by the skipper Brian Snitker. Finalized by an amazing performance out of the bullpen by Tyler Matzek and the Braves roll in to The Series.
The Astros beat the Red Sox 4-2 after being down 2-1. The Sox offense seemed to just fizzle out after game 3 of the ALCS. The Astros pitching staff gets a lot of credit but if we look back to the regular season, the Sox fizzled out there too. Only 2 of the Astros pitchers had quality starts. Valdez went 8 in game 5 and Garcia went just over 5 in game 6. Otherwise it was the depth of the bullpen that pieced together wins over the Red Sox. The Astros offense did score quite a few runs in the ALCS. They averaged 6 per game. In reality though, a lot of the runs came from momentum as the Red Sox seemingly gave up.
So how does this play out? The books have Houston as the confident favorites to win the series at (-145). If you believe in the Braves, as I do, you can make some decent money taking them now (+125). Keep in mind that Game 1 winners win the series about 63% of the time. If the Braves win game 1, look for the books to flip quick to probably even money. They might give the Braves a slight nod as the favorites at maybe (-115). I don't believe this is a quick series. Look for the series to go 6 or 7 games. If the Astros are dominating, look for the overs to hit. If the Braves are rolling, look for the score to be really close to 9.
Let me know what you think or if you have any questions, you can find me on The Twitter @TSCoachJJ.
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