National League West Betting Preview
The only two teams to win more than 100 games in 2021 came from the same division as the Giants (107 wins) and Dodgers (106) dominated the regular season, but neither walked away with a pennant. Can we expect a similar race this season? Sportsmemo MLB handicapper JM Sports shares his thoughts on the 2022 version of the National League West.
Stay on top of the latest MLB updates direct from Las Vegas!
2022 National League West Division Odds
Despite their 107-win season in 2021, the Giants enter this season as the third-favorite in their won division. It’s no surprise that oddsmakers have installed the Dodgers as strong -225 favorites to win the National League West, but the Padres have surpassed the Giants on the odds board despite finishing 28 games behind San Francisco last year.
2022 National League West Odds | Courtesy of Caesars as of April 6 |
---|---|
Los Angeles Dodgers | -225 |
San Diego Padres | +340 |
San Francisco Giants | +550 |
Colorado Rockies | +7500 |
Arizona Diamondbacks | +15000 |
San Francisco Giants
The difference maker between San Francisco and Los Angeles this season very well could be the utilization of this offseason. While Kris Bryant is a big loss offensively for the Giants and Kevin Gausman will be missed in the rotation, San Francisco added Joc Pederson, Alex Cobb, Carlos Rodon, Matthew Boyd and Carlos Martinez.
Boyd and Martinez combined for 161 innings pitched in 31 starts last season. Boyd posted a 3-8 record for Detroit and kept his ERA to 3.89 in 78.2 IP, while Martinez ended the season with a 4-9 record but had a relatively high ERA at 6.23 pitching for the Cardinals.
The Giants’ core of Logan Webb, Anthony Desclafani and Alex Wood all had impressive records and ERA’s under 4.00, but the addition of Cobb and Rodon could make this one of the best staffs in baseball this season.
Cobb started 18 games for the Angels last year, and had a 3.76 ERA, striking out 98 batters in 93.1 IP en route to a 8-3 record! Rodon started 24 games for the White Sox last season, and in those 24 starts, he struck out an astounding 185 batters in just 132.2 IP. Those stats landed Rodon a 13-5 record with a 2.37 ERA. The Giants arguably had the best starting pitching rotation last year, but Rodon posted an ERA lower than any of their starting pitchers in 2021.
San Francisco also added Jakob Junis, who may find himself solidifying a role in the bullpen in San Francisco.
Los Angeles Dodgers
While Albert Pujols is without question a future hall of famer, it is hard to deny that Freddie Freeman is a top-tier acquisition at first base. The Dodgers also recently went out and acquired Craig Kimbrel, Andrew Heaney and Kevin Pillar while losing Corey Seager, Steven Souza, AJ Pollock and Kenley Jensen.
The Dodgers are the +500 favorite to win the 2022 World Series at Caesars. Los Angeles is -1000 to make the playoffs with a regular season win total of over/under 98.5 wins.
San Diego Padres
Third place in a division usually means that the distance between you and the playoffs isn’t out of reach, but the Padres are going to have to improve a lot to be in contention for a Wild Card spot (or watch the Dodgers or Giants take a big step back).
Last season, the Padres ended 79-83, but they finished 27 games behind SECOND place in the National League West. They did manage to add Sean Manaea in recent days, as well as acquiring Luke Voit from the Yankees this off-season. Both of those players could make an impact relatively quickly, but in the entirety of the offseason their moves have been minimal.
They lost Vince Velasquez, but Manaea is a definite step-up in the rotation, but they also cut ties with Tommy Pham and Jake Marisnick in the outfield, as well as parting ways with Mark Melancon out of the bullpen. The question, will the minimal moves make enough difference to improve their team enough to reach the post-season.
Colorado Rockies
In major league sports, we know that anything can happen. These are professional athletes and they are in the big leagues for a reason, but Colorado may need a little help from outside forces to make enough of a change to push them into contention this year.
The Rockies added Kris Bryant, which is one of the biggest names and most coveted players this offseason. They also added Randal Grichuk in the outfield, plus Chad Kuhl and Alex Colome in the bullpen, which hopefully will mask the loss of Jon Gray from the starting rotation. Replacing Trevor Story in the middle infield will be the biggest obstacle for the Rockies at the start of the season.
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks ended the 2021 season 55 games behind the Giants. They did add some arms that can help their pitching staff in Zach Davies, Dan Straily and Mark Melancon, but their offense didn’t get much help this off-season, with the biggest bat acquired being Jordan Luplow.
Luplow may be a lateral move from the departure of Kole Calhoun, and Melancon may be a good replacement for Tyler Clippard. Although, there are a multitude of opportunities to improve, and we will see if time can heal the wounds that a .321 winning percentage can cause.
Interested in placing a bet on the 2022 National League West division odds? Caesars Sports is offering up to a $1,500 match bet for first-time deposits in New Jersey, West Virginia, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, New York and Louisiana.
2022 National League Preview | First Pitch
Play ball! After a very interesting offseason, the 2022 MLB season will kick off on Thursday, April 7. Join Drew Martin, Tony Finn and Adam Trigger for First Pitch as we preview the National League futures market. Which teams are poised to overachieve based on their projected win totals? Which favorites are on upset alert in their division? Join our team of MLB betting experts every weekday at 1:45pm ET / 10:45am PT for First Pitch as we discuss the baseball betting slate.
**************************************************
Meet the Author
Jeff’s hunger for handicapping began at a young age being surrounded by parents that made sports betting a daily routine. Hoping to follow in the footsteps of other Cleveland handicappers like Marc Lawrence, Phil Steele, Ralph Michaels, Ed Meyer and Bryan Leonard, Jeff started his sports betting career working for both Northcoast Sports and Phil Steele Publications learning the intricacies of sports betting and becoming a profitable handicapper. Through out his college years, Jeff’s mathematical and analytical prowess helped him develop a betting strategy that turned sports betting into a profitable venture, where he focuses on the NFL, college football, NBA, college basketball and MLB while showing strong results in the WNBA.
Looking for more free sports picks and sports betting tips?
- Latest Betting Odds and Public Action: Vegas lines updated in real time, including who the public is betting on.
- Last Minute Handicapping Advice: Check out our extensive library of handicapping tips and advice from professional Vegas handicappers (we also recommend taking the time to look over our sports betting tips video library)
- Want an expert opinion? Check out the latest Free Sports Picks and Best Bets from our team of expert sports handicappers.
Make sure to bookmark all the above!