Oct 26, 2022
Morning Coffee: Astros A Significant World Series Favourite
The Houston Astros haven’t lost a single postseason game on the road to the 2022 World Series. How many people are willing to put their money on them losing four times on the biggest stage? Here’s the Morning Coffee for Wednesday October 26th, 2022.
The Houston Astros haven’t lost a single postseason game on the road to the 2022 World Series.
How many people are willing to put their money on them losing four times on the biggest stage?
The Astros will clash with the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series beginning with Game 1 on Friday night.
Houston finished the regular season with 19 more wins than the Phillies, which marks the second-largest disparity by regular season wins in a World Series clash.
That disparity is reflected in FanDuel’s odds to win the World Series.
The Astros opened as a -180 favourite to win it all.
That number has already moved to Houston -190 this morning.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we see it touch two dollars before Friday.
Here’s the Morning Coffee for Wednesday October 26th, 2022.
Astros A Significant Favourite To Win World Series
After an impressive regular season, the Astros rolled past the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees with seven straight wins on their road to the World Series.
Houston is just the fifth team in MLB history to win each of its first seven games.
Three of the previous four went on to win it all.
Yordan Alvarez has hit .241 with two home runs and eight RBI so far this postseason.
Alvarez is a co-favourite to win World Series MVP along with Bryce Harper at +650.
Justin Verlander, who was absolutely dominant during the regular season, joins Kyle Tucker at +1000 to win World Series MVP.
Framber Valdez, Alex Bregman, Kyle Schwarber and Jose Altuve round out the top choices to win that award.
Meanwhile, the Phillies just became the sixth team in the Wild Card era to reach the World Series in the same season in which they snapped a 10-year playoff drought.
Only one of the previous five went on to win it all.
Philadelphia is currently +165 to win it all at FanDuel.
With 48 hours to go before the series opener, it will be interesting to see if they end up at +170 or better.
The Phillies are +138 to win Game 1 on the road.
Houston is currently a -164 money line favourite for the opener.
Flames Stay Hot At Home Versus Penguins
The Calgary Flames have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL out of the gates early on this season.
That continued on Tuesday night when the Flames beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on home ice.
Nazem Kadri led the way with two goals and an assist.
Jacob Markstrom stopped 32 of the 33 shots that he faced in the win.
The Flames have already logged notable wins over the Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights, Carolina Hurricanes and the Penguins.
Vegas also picked up a 4-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night, and remains two points up on Calgary for first place in the Pacific Division standings right now.
If the Flames and Golden Knights can both build on their strong starts, it will set up a very interesting race for the division title as they both got the early jump on the favourite to win the division in the Edmonton Oilers.
Taking a look at the updated division winner odds at FanDuel, Calgary remains the favourite to take the Pacific at +115.
Vegas is the second choice at +320.
You can find the Oilers at +360 to win the Pacific, followed by the Los Angeles Kings at +750 to round out the top four choices.
FanDuel NFL Power Rankings
One of the biggest stories of the season so far is the disparity between the top teams in the NFL and the rest of the league.
That’s something that really stood out to me while building the FanDuel NFL Power Rankings column for this week.
The Buffalo Bills remain in a class of their own as the Super Bowl favourite at +270.
The Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Chiefs could be found at +550 and +650 to win it all, respectively.
After that big three, it’s difficult to figure out which teams have the best chance to compete for a Super Bowl ring.
The San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are technically next in line at +1600 to win it all or shorter.
After that, it’s the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens at +1700 to win the Super Bowl.
It will be interesting to see how things play out as we reach the midway mark of the regular season.
Right now, it appears as though the Bills are in a class of their own, while the Eagles and Chiefs are still a tier above the rest of the competition in the NFC and AFC, respectively.