The Houston Astros have yet to lose a game this postseason, which makes them an obvious choice as the favorite over the Philadelphia Phillies in the 118th edition of the World Series, which will begin Friday.
Of course, anyone counting out Philadelphia may want to remember how unlikely a Phillies pennant felt when the postseason began just a few weeks ago.
Regardless, the oddsmakers have spoken, and the Astros, who are playing in their fourth World Series in the past six years, are the early favorite at -164, according to FanDuel, so a wager of $164 would yield $100 with a Houston win. The Phillies, meanwhile, are at +138, so a $100 bet would win $138.
The biggest question, presumably, is how both teams will respond to the four-day gap from the end of the league championship series to the start of the World Series.
For Houston, the gap may allow for stars like Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker to reset. The Astros are only the third team to sweep a division series and a league championship series in the same year — the 2014 Kansas City Royals and the 2007 Colorado Rockies are the others — yet they got past the Yankees with superb pitching and production from the rest of their lineup. A return to form by even one of the stars, who combined to go 8 for 43 against the Yankees, would make Houston even scarier.
(It should be noted that neither the 2014 Royals nor the 2007 Rockies won the World Series.)
For the Phillies, who will open the World Series on the road, keeping up the intensity of the past few days in Philadelphia will be tough. They have two of the game’s best starting pitchers in Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola, a strong bullpen and a clear-cut leader in Bryce Harper, who was named the most valuable player of the N.L.C.S. But while their lineup has produced some memorable home runs, only one regular, Harper, is hitting higher than .260 this postseason.
That will need to change if the Phillies want to find success against Houston’s pitching staff, which has allowed only 18 runs in the playoffs (in seven games).