Odds to win Season 2 of the PLW – Updated 7/6/2021
The Contenders
The Ones +230: The Ones initially fell slightly in the odds this week due to dropping 2 of 3 vs the Sandvipers in one of the most anticipated matchups of the year. Read the whole series recap here. But they followed that up by dismantling the Stonemen, scoring 22 runs over the 3 game series and only allowing 1. They sit at 22-5 and look poised to capture the #1 overall seed. Ryan Chen continues to perform well, his 1.459 OPS is good for 5th in the league and his 2.60 ERA is 2nd only to teammate Cody Schmidt who was a welcome addition back to their roster this week. The top 3 teams in the league are all quite evenly matched and should make for quite an exciting run up to the playoffs here over the next few weeks.
Snappers +230: The Snappers played 3 games this week hosting the Warbirds last Monday evening. They took 2 of 3 and held on to their #2 position in the standings. They were short handed this week and had a lineup of only 4 players. This led to a debate as to whether or not it was an advantage as it allowed reigning MVP Taylor Bryner and fellow home run mashing teammate Shane Weber to come up to the plate more often but left them with some holes in the field. It still appears that the Ones have the edge in grabbing the #1 seed, but a good battle between these two teams is expected the rest of the way of the regular season. Next week’s series on Thursday vs The Ones could very well determine who takes the #1 overall seed and gets to choose their first round playoff opponent.
Sandvipers +250: The Sandvipers played 6 games this week going 3-3 overall against the Night Owls and the Legends. Sitting comfortably in 3rd place at 13-8, the Sandvipers have a chance to catch The Ones and the Snappers but have to play better overall. They have the ability to score in bunches, and their pitching has been inconsistent at times, but is possibly deeper than any other squad. Adam Tanic continues to be toward the top of the league in OPS at 1.675 but his pitching has been beatable as of late as he’s seen his ERA climb to 6.38. Tom Gannon has struggled at the plate recently but newcomer Buck Burner has certainly picked up the slack and TJ Brown has continued to extend his league lead in singles. They seem to have the upper hand on The Ones as of now, but were shut out twice by the Snappers early on in the season and the Legends gave them fits in two high scoring games this week. They’ve scored 7 or more runs 12 times this season and are 10-2 in those games. If they continue to score like they’ve been able to, they’re going to be hard to beat.
The Pretenders
Night Owls +700: The Night Owls played two series this week going 3-3 bringing their record to 14-19 and in 5th place. James Stein was present for the first series of the week against the Sandvipers and played and pitched well but they were still only able to go 1-2 in that series. They handled the Warbirds better on Thursday, crushing them 14-1 in game one and 7-1 in game two before dropping the last game 2-6. The Night Owls have a roster that can compete with the top 3 squads when everyone is available and playing well. AJ Petrovsky, James Stein, and Barry Hutter are all sporting 1.203 OPS’s and higher and if Stein and Brandon Maio pitch up to their full potential, they could definitely find some wins in the playoffs. The top 3 seeds are very likely locked, so a one game playoff is starting them in the face at the end of the season.
Legends +1000: The Legends played just one series this week and went 2-1 vs a strong Sandvipers team. Their record is now 11-13 and in 4th place overall. It’s well known that the strength of the Legends is their offense and they continued to show that this week. With a 10 and 8 run output in the first two games of the series, they forced the Sandvipers to run through the gambit of pitchers to try to get them out and they struggled to do so. They now have 6 players with an OPS of 1.035 and higher so their lineup is very deep and very dangerous. But they’re still struggling to find consistent pitching success. Their team ERA is now 8.70 and opponents are hitting .333 against, 5th in the league. Chad Phillips and Billy Osgood are the two workhorses on this team, but they’re going to need to be better down the stretch to make sure they keep their offense in games. If they find ways to keep opponents at bay, the power and depth of this lineup make them very dangerous in the playoffs.
Relegation Risks
Warbirds +3000: The Warbirds find themselves at 9-17-1 and in 6th place following a 4-5 week. Peter Mocabee made the series vs the Snappers and they really competed with them, winning 11-7 in game one and then lost two one run contests by the same score of 3-2. He was there against the Bombers as well and they went 2-1 in some high scoring games. When this team has all of their weapons available, they’re more than capable of winning games and will be a tough opponent but they’ve put themselves in a hole. More than halfway through the season they’re 1.5 games back in the standings of the 5th seed but 5 in the win column and they just might run out of games before they make a run at the playoffs. We saw a better week from Matt Petrikas including a walk off grand slam in game 3 of their series vs the Night Owls. They were without Mocabee and Jim Dodos for that series and lost the first two games badly. KJ Lacroix has emerged as the teams 3rd best hitter sporting an OPS of 1.087 trailing only Mocabee and Dodos. Pitching depth hurts this team too. Dodos and Petrikas are going to handle most of the innings but they’re going to have to really step in order to give the Warbirds a chance because this lineup is just a little too weak top to bottom to win slugfests vs the rest of the league.
Stonemen +10000: The Stonemen had only one series this week and they got trounced by The Ones. Falling to 8-18-1, they sit in 7th place overall. They’re 2.5 games out of the last playoff spot but are 6 back in the win column and with a series vs the Legends this week, it’s looking like a must win series to give them any shot at the final playoff spot. The Stonemens success still lies squarely on the shoulders of Levi Lawrence. If he can improve his 8.49 ERA and find a way to keep the Legends off balance, they might be able to win 2 of 3 games. If he can’t find his dominating stuff and their bullpen is going to be tested, the Stonemen could easily find themselves back in the relegation tournament having to fight for a spot to stay in the league.
Bombers +12500: The Bombers odds dropped even further after dropping two of three to the Warbirds. The 4th and 5th place teams picked up wins this week and are making their battle for a playoff spot an even tougher task. They’re 8-19 overall, in 8th place and are 3.5 games back on the 5th spot but 6 in the win column. We haven’t seen much of the new look Bombers but they’re so far back with less than half the season left, even if they play well, it might not be enough. They have 9 straight against the Snappers, Sandvipers, and The Ones, so a lot of losses are likely to be coming in their future. They’ll need to find a way to win some games this week if they want any chance at the playoffs.
***Odds are for entertainment purposes only***
