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A Look at the Updated NL East Odds Entering August
By Joe Tansey
Published:
Warning: You might want to have the panic button next to you and ready to push by the end of this article.
The Philadelphia Phillies’ lead in the National League East is down to 6.5 games over the Atlanta Braves.
By most standards, that’s a comfortable cushion on August 1st, but since parts of the fan base are in full-blown panic mode, it seems like a small gap that can be tightened even more in the next few weeks.
The odds makers certainly believe that is the case. The Braves went from +400 to +330 at DraftKings overnight, but are still +450 to win the NL East on FanDuel. The Phils are -400 and -650 to win the division at the two big sportsbooks and those prices are consistent across New Jersey online sports betting.
The Phillies mercifully have off on Thursday so we can pivot to freaking out about Britain Covey, Mekhi Becton, or some other Eagles training camp storyline for a day.
When the Phils return to the diamond, they will be in Seattle at the start of a 10-game road swing against the Mariners, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Seattle has an excellent pitching staff, just upgraded its lineup with Randy Arozarena, and Justin Turner and needs wins more than the Phils to keep pace with the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers in the American League West.
The Dodgers and Diamondbacks have suddenly been dragged into a three-horse race for first place in the NL West with the San Diego Padres. All three of those teams are separated by five games.
This is all relevant because the Braves start a four-game set at home against the Miami Marlins on Thursday. They face the Milwaukee Brewers at home and then visit Coors Field in the same time span while the Phils are out on the west coast.
So yeah, needless to say there’s at least some reason to panic about the Phils losing more of their advantage in the first half of August.
The good news on the schedule front is that the Phils play six games against Miami and Washington before their August trip to Atlanta. The Braves play the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels on the road in that span.
Atlanta’s schedule is easier for the first 19 days of August, but if the Phils can turn things around in Seattle, they can create some momentum on the road and then hopefully go 6-0 or 5-1 at home against the Marlins and Nats before the August 20th series start with the Braves.
Maybe the Phils benefit from getting away from home for a week-and-a-half and that spurs them forward into the postseason as division champions.
No matter which way you’re looking at the Phils right now, it’s pretty clear the next 10 days are a pivotal point in the season.
Joe Tansey writes sports betting posts for Crossing Broad and also covers the Philadelphia Union for his Substack site, Union Soccer Blog.