MLB odds: Backing Yankees pays off for bettors
Wed, Jun 22, 2022
MLB News (AP)
The Yankees are the first team to 50 wins this season and lead MLB in home runs (111 entering Wednesday) and team ERA (2.84). Outfielder Aaron Judge leads the majors with 25 home runs. Power combined with good pitching usually results in good news for bettors.
Let's dive into the Yankees from a betting perspective.
Here's everything you need to know about the Yankees' odds for the season via AP Bet. For more MLB odds, check out the best World Series futures bets.
RELATED: Will Yankees riders HRs to playoff success?
From a gambling outlook, the Yankees are 46-17 straight up (SU) as favorites and 4-1 SU as underdogs. The Bombers are 36-32 against the spread (ATS) overall. They are better ATS on the road (18-14) than at home (18-18).
According to BetLabs, betting on the Yankees as the favorites has produced a return on investment (ROI) of 14.5% as of Tuesday.
But betting on the Yankees as underdogs has been even more profitable for gamblers, as the ROI is an astounding 75.8%.
BetLabs also shows that betting on the Yankees to win at home has produced an ROI of 22.6%; betting on them to win on the road as of Tuesday has produced an ROI of 14.9%.
As you can see from all the numbers above, betting on the Yankees has produced some real green for their backers.
Despite the torrid start, the Yankees are the second betting favorite to win the World Series, behind the Dodgers (+400).
AP Bet associate trader Steven Hemke said the Yankees might make a move or two at the trade deadline to solidify their World Series chances.
RELATED: World Series odds at AP Bet
"The Yankees right now don't have many holes. They do have Jameson Taillon and Luis Severino who are both super injury prone so maybe come trade deadline they will need to bolster their rotation with maybe one more starter," said Hemke, noting that AP Bet is in good shape on Yankees World Series futures. "They also need to add a center fielder so that Aaron Judge doesn't have to play there. They could also use help at catcher.'
"Their last issue will be who will be their closer come September between Clay Holmes and Aroldis Chapman in the big moments. As of now, clear favorites without many holes if they can stay injury-free."
ODDS: Yankees to win World Series (+500 at AP Bet, bet $10 to win $60 total)
ODDS: Yankees to win American League pennant (+230 at AP Bet, bet $10 to win $33 total)
ODDS: Yankees to win American League East Division'(-769 at AP Bet, bet $10 to win $11.30 total)
ODDS: Aaron Judge to win AL MVP (-105 at AP Bet, bet $10 to win $19.52 total)
ODDS: Giancarlo Stanton to win AL MVP (+10000 at AP Bet, bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Not only are the Yankees paying off for bettors, but they are also on pace for the history books.
They are on pace to hit 264 home runs, which would tie for sixth-most in MLB history and third-best in team history (New York hit 306 homers in 2019 and 267 in 2018).
At 50-18 (.735%), the Yankees are on pace for 119 wins, which would break the current 162-game MLB record of 116 (1906 Chicago Cubs, 2001 Seattle Mariners).
This is the fastest the Yankees have reached 50 wins since 1998 when they also started 50-17. New York went on to win the World Series that season.
More bad news for fans who don't like the Yankees: the two times New York reached 50 wins in fewer than 67 games (50-14 in 1939: 50-16 in 1928), the Yankees won the World Series that season.
So are you throwing a couple of bucks down on the Yankees to stay hot? If so, head over to AP Bet now!
Looking for even more MLB content? Head over to the MLB section on the AP Sports app and website for all the latest news, and make sure to favorite the MLB and your favorite team - or teams! - while you're there.
