The Cleveland Guardians open a nine-game homestand Friday against the Minnesota Twins and have a chance to bounce back after losing four of six on the road to the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.
Cleveland was a -120 money-line favorite Wednesday against the Yankees in a 4-3 loss. It was an unfortunate ending after ace Shane Bieber went eight strong innings giving up just two runs and five hits.
The Guardians dropped to 9-10 when playing as the favorite. Cleveland will be a slight underdog against the Twins on Friday in the opener of their three-game weekend series. Minnesota is a -125 favorite with Bailey Ober getting the start while Cleveland is +105 with Peyton Battenfield on the bump. The total for the game has been set at 8.5 runs.In the futures market, Cleveland’s odds to win the World Series have slipped a little and are down to +4000, putting them around the middle of the pack with the same odds as the struggling St. Louis Cardinals. The Guardians are +1700 to win the American League at FanDuel Sportsbook.
They are at +190 to win the AL Central behind the Twins, who are the favorites at -170. The White Sox (+950), Tigers (+3500) and Royals (+12000) remain long shots behind the top two. Cleveland is +150 to make the playoffs in any form and -175 to miss out on the postseason.
On the individual side, Bieber has started to re-establish himself as one of the best pitchers in the game. After a slow start to the season, Bieber gave up two runs over seven innings and got the win against the Red Sox on April 28 and followed that with his strong outside against the Yankees on Wednesday.
Bieber is at +4000 odds to win the American League Cy Young Award, putting him at the same odds as teammate Triston McKenzie. Both players are far behind the favorite Gerrit Cole, who is off to a 5-0 start with the Yankees.McKenzie has been rehabbing his shoulder and recently completed another bullpen session on his way to returning to the mound in the next month.
In the MVP race, Jose Ramirez has hit safely in eight of his past nine games, but his power numbers have dipped a little. Ramirez is hitting .286 with three homers, nine doubles and 17 RBIs. He is +4500 to win the AL MVP, putting him in the top 15 on the betting board, but far off the pace of the betting favorite Shohei Ohtani. The Angels’ two-way star is at -105.
