As I wrote yesterday, Austin Riley is overdue for some MVP love from the national media. It’s slowly beginning to occur, but the guys in Vegas still aren’t buying his recent tear. Despite hitting .356 with 14 homers, good for a 1.077 OPS, over his last 41 games, which is eerily similar to the numbers Chipper Jones put up to begin the second half of his 1999 MVP campaign, Riley is still listed at 40/1 odds to win the National League MVP.
Fernando Tatis Jr. is a big favorite (-350) to win the NL MVP at @betonline_ag.
Max Muncy is next at 7-1 and Freddie Freeman is after that at 17-2 (+850).
Austin Riley is 40-1.
— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) August 30, 2021
Riley being a long shot at winning the award is not that shocking. Bryce Harper, Fernando Tatis, and several others should be ahead of him in the race as of today. However, seeing him that far behind his own teammate, Freddie Freeman, in terms of odds is a bit perplexing.
Freeman’s having another fantastic season, but Riley has him beat in nearly every statistic. For either of them to win, it would take a remarkable uptick to end the 2021 campaign. It’s understandable to bet that Freeman is the more likely of the two to go on such a tear, but given how well Riley has played since the All-Star break, I wouldn’t put anything by him. Nobody is seeing the ball better right now than the Braves’ third baseman, and at 40/1, it might be wise to throw a few dollars on him and see if he can keep this hot streak going.
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