After each team won in a deciding Game 5, the Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals meet to determine the National League representative in the World Series.
Where does the betting value lie?
Our sports betting analysts, Doug Kezirian and Preston Johnson, break down their best bets.
Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.
Washington Nationals vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Johnson: This one is fairly straightforward for me: To break even at the price of -120, the Nationals need to win the series 54.5% of the time. I project them to advance to the World Series 61.1% of the time, or a true price of -157. Washington has a much stronger rotation, and when you dig into the batting numbers this season, the team has a clear edge there as well. The Nats ranked eighth in MLB in wRC+, sixth in wOBA and sixth in runs scored. The Cardinals ranked 15th, 19th and 19th, respectively, in those same categories.
Over the All-Star break, I wrote about betting the Nationals to win the World Series at 25-1. We also discussed value at 6-1 to win the National League pennant before the postseason started on Daily Wager. If you were able to make either of those bets, then I wouldn't go too crazy here backing the Nats to win the series. We're sitting with plenty of value as is, but if you're late to the Washington party, I still think it's worthwhile to jump in now at -120.
Pick: Nationals to win series -120
Kezirian: The Nationals are simply the better team. They have better hitting and starting pitching. However, I am a bit concerned about the health of catcher Kurt Suzuki, who left Game 5 after being hit by a pitch. He's the preferred catcher for Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez, who is slated to start Game 1. Obviously, Washington's weak bullpen is a negative factor, but I think St. Louis is a bit of a farce.
The Cardinals play excellent defense, leading MLB in fielding percentage, and have home-field advantage, but I think the Nationals can offset that. The rotation of Stephen Strasburg, Scherzer and Patrick Corbin is daunting and should stymie a Cardinals lineup that posted the fifth-worst batting average and sixth-fewest runs in the National League during the regular season.
Pick: Nationals -120