Kevin Davies
Show Bio
The time has finally come for the most exciting series of the MLB season. The New York Yankees captured the American League pennant by defeating the Royals and Guardians and the Los Angeles Dodgers reclaimed the National League pennant by knocking out the Padres and Mets. The 2 franchises will meet in a best-of-7 World Series that starts in Los Angeles on Friday night.
I have locked in my World Series winner prediction along with my World Series MVP pick, so let’s get right into it!
2024 MLB World Series Winner Best Bet: Los Angeles Dodgers (-122)
Available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing
The World Series is officially set and it will feature 2 historic franchises meeting in the Fall Classic for the first time since 1981. The Dodgers and Yankees both had a bye through the wild-card round, which means it has been a relatively easy journey to this stage. However, it’s no question that New York has had a much easier path. The Orioles and Astros got upset in the wild-card round, which left just the Yankees, Guardians, Tigers and Royals as the final 4 teams in the American League. Unsurprisingly, the Yankees beat the Royals and Guardians to advance to their first World Series since 2009.
New York announced that Gerrit Cole will start Game 1 in Los Angeles. He will likely be followed by Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Nestor Cortes — if Cortes is healthy. If not, Luis Gil will likely take his spot. On paper, this is a solid World Series rotation. However, the stats don’t back up that claim. In the postseason, Cole has a 3.31 ERA but a .297 batting average allowed, Rodon has a 4.40 ERA with a .259 average allowed and Schmidt has a 3.86 ERA and a .250 average allowed. The Yankees’ starters have been getting hit a lot and have been fortunate that their bullpen has stopped the bleeding. Plus, the Royals and Guardians were atrocious with runners in scoring position during the ALCS. Don’t expect that to continue in the World Series since the Dodgers have had the best offense in October.
All I can think about when watching the Dodgers is how dominant they would be if Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow, or Gavin Stone didn’t get hurt. Even with those injuries, the Dodgers have been able to get by with a rotation made of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler. It hasn’t always been easy, but the trio has been able to put together some strong outings and keep the Dodgers in it. Plus, they have been fortunate to have the most productive lineup in the postseason behind them. In just the NLCS, the Dodgers lineup hit for a .268 average, .395 on-base percentage and .854 OPS, which led to them scoring 9, 3, 8, 10, 6 and 10 runs. Los Angeles is going to be hard to beat if its offense continues to produce at that rate. With the better offense and home-field advantage, I’m taking the Dodgers to win the World Series.
2024 MLB World Series MVP Best Bet: Tommy Edman (+3300)
Available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing
For World Series MVP, a lot of people are going to take either Shohei Ohtani if they believe the Dodgers will win the World Series or Aaron Judge if they are backing the Yankees. However, it’s not always the “star” of the team that gets the hardware. The last few World Series MVPs have included Corey Seager twice, Jeremy Pena, Jorge Soler, Stephen Strasburg and Steve Pearce. But before I can even get into who, I have to choose which team I think will win. That’s because there has only been one instance of a player winning World Series MVP on the losing team (Bobby Richardson in 1960). As you read above, I’m siding with the Dodgers to win this heavyweight bout because their lineup has been far more reliable in the postseason.
That cuts my options in half. The top options to win the World Series MVP for the Dodgers are Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy and so on until you stumble upon Tommy Edman at +3300. I was pleasantly surprised to see Edman at this good of odds since he just won NLCS MVP. The trade-deadline acquisition became the hero in the NLCS as he went 11-for-27 (.407) with 11 RBIs. He was moved into the cleanup spot in Games 4 and 6 and did this: 4-for-11, 3 runs, 7 RBIs and 1 home run. I’m expecting Edman to continue to see time in the cleanup spot or the 5 hole, and if he continues to hit like he did in the NLCS then he is a steal at +3300 odds.
