The Phillies are twice as good as Vegas thought.
OK, maybe that's not technically true, but their World Series odds were cut in half Tuesday. The Phils have 75-to-1 odds to win it all, according to Bovada, which listed them at 150-to-1 on April 4.
The Phils actually have shorter odds than five major-league teams: the Twins, Padres, Reds, Brewers and Braves.
Crazier things have happened, like Leicester City winning the Premier League after being 5,000-to-1 prior to the season, but we still wouldn't recommend putting your hard-earned dollars on the Phillies to win it all or come anywhere close.
The odds of only four teams in the majors held steady after a month. The Cubs are still the favorite at 5/1, the Royals remain 14/1, the Pirates 20/1 and the Marlins 50/1.
The biggest jump by far, was with the White Sox, who went from 33/1 to 12/1. The White Sox have the best record (18-8) in the American League, even if their performance to date doesn't look entirely sustainable. Chicago's bullpen has been unbelievable, and starters Mat Latos and Jose Quintana both have ERAs in the 1.00s.
The Mets and Nationals are second to the Cubs with 10-to-1 odds. They look like they'll be battling for the NL East crown until the season's final weeks or days.
Philadelphia Phillies
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MVP/Cy Young
The early frontrunner for NL MVP is Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado at 5/1. Yoenis Cespedes follows at 6/1, then Bryce Harper at 7/1. Harper seems like a pretty good bet, doesn't he? His recent slump has certainly affected these odds.
(Update: In the 45 minutes since this post went up, Harper has dropped to 5/1. Those initial 7-to-1 odds were so long for the game's best hitter that it almost seemed like a mistake.)
In the AL, Orioles 3B/SS Manny Machado is the favorite at 15/4, followed by Josh Donaldson and Mike Trout at 4/1.
The only Phillie to make an appearance on an individual awards odds list is Vince Velasquez, who is 16/1 to win NL Cy Young. Jake Arrieta (3/2) and Clayton Kershaw (12/5) are far above the pack.
In the AL, Chris Sale is the Cy Young favorite at 6/5, followed by ERA leader Jordan Zimmermann at 6/1.
