Tag: 2022 World Series

World Series 2022: Game 3 odds, predictions and prop picks for Astros vs. Phillies

Predictions for Game 3 of the World Series.

The Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies are tied at one game apiece as the World Series shifts to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Monday, and this is where Houston’s rotational depth should begin to pay dividends.

They’re starting Lance McCullers Jr., who is fresher than most players at this point in the year after not making his debut until August. He’s been phenomenal in limited action, posting six quality starts in 10 games this season and postseason and not allowing more than three earned runs in any game.

The Phillies will have Noah Syndergaard on the mound, a solid option but clear drop-off from Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler, who the Astros were able to catch up to in Games 1 and 2. All 10 runs scored by the Astros this series have been off the starters.

Syndergaard should also be somewhat fresh after pitching all of 5 1/3 innings in three appearances this postseason, including two in relief. And he’s seen these Astros as a member of the Angels earlier in the season. In his first start of the year, he held them to two hits and no runs in 5 1/3 innings. Then, in July, Houston caught up to him for three runs in four innings.

So far in these playoffs, Houston’s good offense has beaten Philly’s good pitching. So I expect more of that in Game 3. But I do anticipate Philadelphia’s offense coming back to life at home after being shut down by Framber Valdez in Game 2.

Kyle Schwarber has reached base in nine straight games, and he hit a lead-off homer the last time he saw McCullers near the end of the regular season. So I like him to reach on a hit in Game 3, and my favorite bet from the game is over 0.5 runs in the first inning. I’m also looking for the total to go over eight runs in an Astros win.

Prince’s Pick: Astros win 6-4

Prince’s Prop: Yes to run in first inning (+105)

Player Prop: Kyle Schwarber Over 0.5 hits (-145)

Umpire Pat Hoberg made history with a perfect game in the World Series and MLB fans were in awe

A legend at the top of his game.

When MLB announced its umpiring crew for the World Series between the Astros and Phillies, there was a lot to like about the selections. In the biggest games — with a championship on the line — you want the best umpires working the series. So, the inclusion of umpire Pat Hoberg — the most accurate ump in baseball — was an absolute must.

In Saturday’s Game 2, Hoberg showed exactly why he’s the best, and he made history in the process.

According to Umpire Scorecards, Hoberg made World Series history by calling a perfect game behind the plate. Out of the 129 taken pitches in the game, Hoberg made the correct call on every single one of them. Considering that pitchers are throwing with more velocity and movement than ever before, that is nothing short of a legendary performance from Hoberg in his first World Series assignment.

This wasn’t the first time that Hoberg had flirted with a perfect game either. Earlier this season, Hoberg narrowly missed the first pitch of a game but went on to call every taken pitch accurately the rest of the way.

He saved his best performance for the biggest moment of his umpiring career, and MLB fans were more than happy to recognize the accomplishment. More umps should be like Hoberg.

Notre Dame representation silent again in Game 2 of World Series

Still nothing to see here.

Game 2 of the World Series featured a slightly different script from Game 1. The Houston Astros scored three runs in the first inning, and this time, that was all the runs they needed to beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-2. The series now is tied at a victory apiece as it heads to the City of Brotherly Love for the next three games.

One thing that didn’t change from Game 1? No impact from the two former Notre Dame players. One night after being lifted for a pinch hitter, [autotag]Trey Mancini[/autotag] did not appear for the Astros. [autotag]Chris Vierling[/autotag] started in center field for the Phillies but went 0 for 2 and left two men on base before being pinch-hit for in the seventh inning.

Irish fans should be lucky at least one more game will be played as it provides more potential opportunities for Mancini and Vierling to contribute. Whether they actually will contribute remains to be seen and also depends on their respective managers’ faith in them.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Listen to Geoffrey’s World Series history podcast: “Then There Were Two: A History of the World Series”.

Notre Dame alumni don’t factor into Game 1 of World Series

Nothing to see if you’re a Notre Dame fan.

The 2022 World Series got off to a thrilling start Friday. The Philadelphia Phillies overcame a five-run deficit to steal Game 1 from the host Houston Astros, 6-5, after J.T. Realmuto led off the 10th inning with the game-winning home run. Suddenly, a team that everyone wrote off at the start of the postseason is looking very formidable.

As exciting as the game was, Notre Dame’s two alumni didn’t have any impact on it. [autotag]Matt Vierling[/autotag] was not in the Phillies’ lineup. [autotag]Trey Mancini[/autotag] started as the designated hitter, which has been his usual spot in these playoffs, but he went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and left a team-high three men on base. When the Astros had two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the 10th of a one-run game, Dusty Baker pinch-hit Aledmys Diaz for Mancini, only for Diaz to ground out to third to end the game.

Here’s hoping the former Irish hitters are able to do more going forward in the series.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Listen to Geoffrey’s World Series history podcast: “Then There Were Two: A History of the World Series”.

Why the World Series is the perfect place for microbetting to thrive

Microbetting has seen an uptick in popularity during the MLB playoffs.

The Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies aren’t the only teams enjoying a successful postseason. You can throw the leader in microbetting, Simplebet, into that group too.

After a regular season where Simplebet clients received 40% of their baseball handle from microbets — bets on pitch-by-pitch results as opposed to full game outcomes — the market has accounted for 43% of the handle in the postseason, CEO & co-founder Chris Bevilacqua told SportTechie.

And there’s reason to believe that number could jump even more in the World Series.

“The main driver is what we call island games,” Bevilacqua said of the playoff surge. “There is only one game on at a time. We see that phenomenon in football as well. The three biggest handle nights of the NFL season are Thursday night, Sunday night, and Monday night because it’s the only game on and they’re all on national TV.”

Bevilacqua called Simplebet’s pitch velocity microbet the “core proposition” of their technology. That specific bet allows bettors to pick an over/under on the speed of the next pitch. The company uses data from official league partners to create real-time odds for these type of microbets, allowing users on client platforms such as DraftKings and Betr to wager on the outcomes.

New Jersey recently became the latest state to allow pitch speed betting when regulators approved it last Friday, just in time for the World Series. Bevilacqua said New York, Virginia and Indiana are the only other states where it isn’t approved yet.

These type of bets are seen by some as a solution to baseball’s pace-of-play problem. They give people a game within the game to distract from down-time. With all eyes on the Astros and Phillies, we’ll get a better idea of just how popular microbetting can be.

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Lucas Giolito on Astros’ 2017 World Series: ‘All those teams were cheating’

Maybe Houston wasn’t the only problem.

Many fans and players around baseball are still rightfully worked up over the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal in 2017 and 2018. Especially since the Astros won the World Series at the height of the scheme.

Lucas Giolito has a bit of a tougher time with that line of thinking. And he doesn’t believe Houston winning the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies this year is required to legitimize the Astros’ previous title run.

Speaking to Chris Rose Rotation show via Jomboy Media, the White Sox starter said he believes every team in the 2017 postseason was cheating—the Astros were just the only ones who got caught red-handed.

“Based on everything I’ve heard, it was like all the teams that were in the postseason that year were doing the same [expletive],” Giolito told Rose. “I think that’s also kinda why the players kinda had that half-apology energy when they were apologizing for all this stuff, because they probably knew like ‘Man we got caught, but everyone was kinda doing this stuff.'”

The 2017 postseason featured the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs, Guardians, Diamondbacks and Rockies with the Astros defeating New York in the ALCS before taking down the Dodgers in seven games to claim the World Series.

This is not an entirely new line of thinking from Giolito. In 2017, the Yankees and Red Sox accused each other of using technology to decode and transmit signs. The Brewers accused the Dodgers of doing the same during the 2018 NLCS and former Houston bench coach and Red Sox manager Alex Cora is implicated in commissioner Rob Manfred’s final report on the matter.

Again, Houston has rightfully grabbed the majority of the headlines for its use of sign stealing technology, but it certainly seems as though players around the sport have a bit more trouble determining who the real villains are here.

Whether or not a title in 2022 would legitimize the Astros’ dominance over the last decade almost seems moot. Especially when many of the current roster’s most-exciting players weren’t even around in 2017.

Does that make any of this any easier for fans to process? Probably not. But since when have baseball controversies ever been simple?

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World Series 2022: Game 1 odds, predictions and prop pick for Phillies vs. Astros

Predictions for Game 1 of the World Series.

Picking a winner in the first game of the World Series is a bit tricky when the teams at hand haven’t seen much of the pitchers they’re about to face, which is the case when it comes to the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies.

Very few Phillies have had more than a couple at-bats in their careers against Astros ace Justin Verlander. The ones who have, had very marginal success. As a team, Philadelphia’s hitters are a career .184 against the likely AL Cy Young winner.

Likewise, there isn’t a single Astros player with more than eight at-bats against Phillies starter Aaron Nola. They’ve hit just .130 against in him in their careers.

Batters will get very familiar with these two over the course of the series and maybe even get a read on their stuff. But in Game 1, after a five-day layoff since the end of the league championship series, I give the advantage to the pitchers and expect more of the same.

When these teams met in the final series of the regular season, Nola pitched a shutout through 6 2/3 innings of the first game with nine strikeouts and just two hits allowed. Verlander pitched a hitless five innings with 10 strikeouts in the second game. Each bullpen completed the shutouts.

If these staffs bring that type of stuff into Game 1, a winner might not be decided until the final innings. And though Nola — a full decade younger than Verlander — could potentially take his start deeper into the game, I expect Philadelphia’s bullpen to crack before Houston’s.

If the game is decided by the starters, I still expect it to be Houston’s lineup to come through first. Though Nola was terrific through his first two starts of the postseason, he allowed six runs and two homers through 4 2/3 innings of his last start in Game 2 of their series against the Padres. Verlander, on the other hand, allowed just one run and three hits in six innings against the Yankees in his last start.

Both offenses pack plenty of power, so all of this could very easily and quickly go out of the window once the game starts. And not since 2017 has Game 1 of the World Series seen fewer than eight runs scored, but I’ll lean on the recent trends and plus money for my favorite pick in this one, which is under 6.5 runs at +100 odds.

Prince’s Pick: Astros win 4-2

Prince’s Prop: Justin Verlander over 5.5 strikeouts (-160)

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World Series 2022: Winner, series length and MVP picks from Astros-Phillies

Our picks for a World Series winner, MVP and more.

The World Series begins Friday, featuring a matchup that might not be exactly what it appears to be.

The Houston Astros have dominanted all season, winning 106 games and running through the playoffs without a loss. The Philadelphia Phillies used a late-season run to sneak in as a Wild Card, riding that wave to a pennant.

But this series anything but a meeting between David vs. Goliath. Philadelphia is simply playing up to its potential, finally, and can absolutely knock off the favored Astros.

So we’re here to help you make some bets on a winner, series length, MVP and even a home run leader. Odds are from BetMGM.

MLB made the right choice on the umpires for the 2022 World Series

Here are the World Series umpires.

When the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies take the field on Friday for Game 1 of the World Series, fans are going to have the expectation of MLB assigning a competent umpiring crew. After all, there is nothing worse than having an actual championship impacted by poor umpiring.

Well, fans can breathe easy because it sure looks like MLB made as close to the right decision with the World Series crew — at least on paper — as we could have expected.

On Wednesday, MLB announced its seven-name umpiring crew, which will have Dan Iassogna serving as crew chief. He’ll be joined by James Hoye, Tripp Gibson, Jordan Baker, Lance Barksdale, Alan Porter and the GOAT Pat Hoberg.

Now, this is a solid crew. According to Umpire Scorecards Analysis, Hoberg and Gibson are ranked No. 1 and 3 respectively in accuracy behind the plate. The only two umpires on this crew who performed outside the top 30 are Iassogna and Hoye, so Games 1 and 3 could end up being frustrating nights for both teams. But Hoberg and Gibson should offer the kind of umpiring you’d want for a World Series game.

Overall, fans were at least pleased to see Hoberg’s name included in this crew. He’s quickly building the reputation as MLB’s best umpire.

Top 6 best bets to win 2022 World Series MVP

Top 6 players to bet for World Series MVP.

The World Series begins Friday with the Houston Astros hosting the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1.

Both teams enter the series on impressive runs, increasing the level of intrigue for what might happen. The betting favorite to win, Houston swept its way through the postseason to the World Series. Barely outdone, the Phillies made the playoffs as a Wild Card before sweeping that round, and losing just a single game in the NLDS and NLCS each.

With this unlikely World Series about to commence, it’s time to look at my top six MVP candidates and their odds to win. Astros dominate the list, because Houston is favored to win, but a couple Phillies made the list too.