{"id":239867,"date":"2022-10-27T22:33:36","date_gmt":"2022-10-28T03:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=239867"},"modified":"2022-10-28T13:44:51","modified_gmt":"2022-10-28T18:44:51","slug":"world-series-2022-astros-hope-healthy-pitching-can-tame-phillies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/world-series-2022-astros-hope-healthy-pitching-can-tame-phillies\/","title":{"rendered":"World Series 2022: Houston Astros Hope Healthy Pitching Can Tame Philadelphia Phillies"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2022 World Series begins on Friday night when the Houston Astros host the Philadelphia Phillies for Game 1 in the best-of-seven series. And to steal a line from the late Yogi Berra, this year\u2019s matchup feels like d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu all over again.<\/p>\n

\"Minute<\/a>
The grounds crew at Minute Maid Park in Houston prepare for the start of the 2022 World Series, which begins Friday night at the park. The Houston Astros host Game 1 against the Philadelphia Phillies and are the favorite to win the championship, according to Caesars Sportsbook. (Image: ESPN)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s not a rematch of last year\u2019s matchup, which featured the Atlanta Braves beating the Astros in six games. But similarities abound. Like last year\u2019s Braves, this year\u2019s Phillies squad was nearly counted out in the midseason before finishing with a strong second half to make the playoffs. Also, like last year, the Astros are once again a strong favorite to win. According to Caesars Sportsbook, Houston is a -200, or 1-2, favorite, while the Phils are +170.<\/p>\n

But as baseball often proves in October, the perceived better team doesn\u2019t always pop the champagne at the end.<\/p>\n

This year, Houston has its top two pitchers \u2013 Justin Verlander and Lance McCullers Jr. \u2013 who weren\u2019t available for last year\u2019s Fall Classic because of injuries. Verlander, the 39-year-old future Hall of Famer, gets the start Friday against the Phillies\u2019 Aaron Nola.<\/p>\n

It starts with pitching, and to have Lance and Verlander and to have the other young guys one year more mature and confident, it’s a good feeling,\u201d<\/strong> Astros manager Dusty Baker told reporters Thursday.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Astros are the -170 favorite to win Game 1, according to Caesars<\/a>, with Philadelphia at +143.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s game starts at 8:03 p.m. ET and will be aired on FOX.<\/p>\n

Harper, Bregman Top MVP Bets<\/h2>\n

While the Astros are the favorites to win the Series, the odds point to Phillies slugger Bryce Harper to win the World Series MVP.<\/p>\n

The Las Vegas native has been nothing short of sensational in the postseason. In 11 games, he\u2019s hitting .419 and slugging .907. In 43 at bats, he has five home runs, six doubles, and 11 runs batted in. His two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series clinched the game and the series against the San Diego Padres.<\/p>\n

\n

Caesars is offering Harper at +500 to win the postseason award. The sportsbook also offers a special odds boost at +850, though that\u2019s limited to a $100 maximum wager. Earlier this postseason, a Pennsylvania bettor put down $100 on Harper when he was available at +7500.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Houston first baseman Yordan Alvarez, who is also having a fine postseason, is +600, while Verlander is available at +900.<\/p>\n

Houston\u2019s Alex Bregman, who started at +5000 and is now +1100, has attracted more than half of the Series MVP handle among the players in the World Series, according to Caesars. One Michigan bettor put $25,000 on the Astros third baseman when he was +1600 after they won the American League Championship Series. That would net the bettor $400,000 if Bregman wins.<\/p>\n

Harper is the second-most popular pick, with 13.6% of the handle. He does have 16.5% of the tickets at Caesars, slightly more than the 15.8% of the bets on Bregman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

2022 World Series MVP Odds<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Bryce Harper<\/td>\nPhillies<\/td>\n+500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yordan Alvarez<\/td>\nAstros<\/td>\n+600<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Justin Verlander<\/td>\nAstros<\/td>\n+900<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kyle Schwarber<\/td>\nPhillies<\/td>\n+1000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alex Bregman<\/td>\nAstros<\/td>\n+1100<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jose Altuve<\/td>\nAstros<\/td>\n+1400<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook. Current as of 11 pm ET Thursday, and subject to change<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Caesars on the Hook for Huge Mattress Mack Bet<\/h2>\n

The biggest bet Caesars has taken on the World Series came back in May, when Houston businessman Jim \u201cMattress Mack\u201d<\/a> McIngvale bet $3 million on his hometown team when the Astros were +1000 on the futures board. If they win it all, Mack will net $30 million.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s believed to be the single largest payout in the history of regulated US sports betting, Caesars Head of Sports Ken Fuchs told reporters Thursday. McIngvale has made large wagers on the Astros with other sportsbooks and stands to win upwards of $75 million from his $10 million in total bets.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing on the risk side of that, certainly, we’re sweating it, too,\u201d Fuchs said. \u201cIt’s also a lot of fun to be on that side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are other large wagers that have come in, though not nearly at the same odds. A number of six-figure bets on the Phillies have been placed through Caesars, both in Las Vegas and along the East Coast.<\/p>\n

McIngvale\u2019s wagers are almost always tied to a promotion he\u2019s offering at his Houston-based Gallery Furniture chain, and he has made several large wagers in the past on the Astros to win it all. Some say those bets \u2013 as well as sportsbooks\u2019 promotions of his wagers \u2013 amount to free advertising for his business. However, those bets also serve as a promotion for the books themselves, too.<\/p>\n

Fuchs said McIngvale has won several large bets he\u2019s placed with Caesars. With each wager, there\u2019s a \u201cpiggyback\u201d effect as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever he makes a bet, you see an uptick in interest for sure,\u201d Fuchs said. \u201cWe do bet with bettors of all types, of all sizes, and so on a daily basis, our transaction volume is significant, regardless of who’s coming in to bet.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut certainly, Mack is a really creative, passionate guy who’s using it in a very different way from a strategic business point of view. So, I think people respect that, and they respect what he’s done in his community as well. There is definitely some bandwagon aspect to it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2022 World Series begins on Friday night when the Houston Astros host the Philadelphia Phillies for Game 1 in the best-of-seven series. And to steal a line from the late Yogi Berra, this year\u2019s matchup feels like d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu all over again. It\u2019s not a rematch of last year\u2019s matchup, which featured the Atlanta […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":239868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[82963,1074],"tags":[81828,82754,82752,83366,81829,83175,81747],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWorld Series: Astros Hope Healthy Pitching Can Tame Phillies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Houston Astros are the favorites to win the World Series for the second time in five years, according to Caesars Sportsbook\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/world-series-2022-astros-hope-healthy-pitching-can-tame-phillies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"World Series: Astros Hope Healthy Pitching Can Tame Phillies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Houston Astros are the favorites to win the World Series for the second time in five years, according to Caesars Sportsbook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/world-series-2022-astros-hope-healthy-pitching-can-tame-phillies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-28T03:33:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-28T18:44:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/r1082115_1296x729_16-9.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1296\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"729\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/world-series-2022-astros-hope-healthy-pitching-can-tame-phillies\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/world-series-2022-astros-hope-healthy-pitching-can-tame-phillies\/\",\"name\":\"World Series: Astros Hope Healthy Pitching Can Tame Phillies\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/world-series-2022-astros-hope-healthy-pitching-can-tame-phillies\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/world-series-2022-astros-hope-healthy-pitching-can-tame-phillies\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/r1082115_1296x729_16-9.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-28T03:33:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-28T18:44:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2\"},\"description\":\"The Houston Astros are the favorites to win the World Series for the second time in five years, according to Caesars Sportsbook\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/world-series-2022-astros-hope-healthy-pitching-can-tame-phillies\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/world-series-2022-astros-hope-healthy-pitching-can-tame-phillies\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/world-series-2022-astros-hope-healthy-pitching-can-tame-phillies\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/r1082115_1296x729_16-9.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/r1082115_1296x729_16-9.jpeg\",\"width\":1296,\"height\":729,\"caption\":\"Grounds crew at Minute Maid Park in Houston prepare for the start of the 2022 World Series, which begins Friday night at the park. 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