The Atlanta Braves face a difficult task with regard to the 2017 season. The team is undoubtedly better prepared to compete than it was for the majority of 2016 but, in the same breath, the experts in Las Vegas have pegged Brian Snitker’s team with an over/under win total of 74.5 games and that indicates (very) modest expectations.
However, there are some individuals within the organization that could make a dent when it comes to awards and an off-shore sportsbook, Bovada, has posted interesting lines for NL MVP, NL Cy Young and NL home run leader. No member of the Braves is considered a “favorite” for one of these honors, but the team is represented on each list with Freddie Freeman, Matt Kemp and Julio Teheran.
Freeman comes in at No. 6 overall in the NL MVP hunt with 14-to-1 odds and that is no surprise given his tremendous performance a year ago. With more team success (for better or worse), it is safe to assume that Freeman would have been a legitimate challenger to Kris Bryant for the 2016 award and it will be interesting to see if he can duplicate that monster level of production while operating as something of a “favorite” this time around. Matt Kemp is also included, with 100-to-1 odds, and you can chuckle to yourself if you’d like.
Elsewhere, both Freeman and Kemp are listed with odds to lead the Major Leagues in home runs. In an odd way, Kemp’s value (at 75-to-1) might be better than Freeman’s at the same price given his raw power and Freeman’s status as a much more balanced hitter but, either way, the odds don’t indicate a ton of confidence in a 45-home run explosion for either player.
Finally, Julio Teheran gets the nod as the only member of the Braves with NL Cy Young odds on the board. Atlanta’s “ace” is coming off a season in which he produced a 3.21 ERA over 188 innings (30 starts) and that was good enough to install Teheran at 40-to-1 to take home the crown. The right-hander would need to produce at a 2014 level (when he had a 2.89 ERA) and better to even garner consideration but, hey, one can dream.
In the end, it is pretty unlikely that a member of the Braves will snatch a league-wide award on this list in 2017. Be careful with your hard-earned jelly beans.
Odds to Win the 2017 NL MVP
Kris Bryant 11/4
Bryce Harper 3/1
Nolan Arenado 7/1
Anthony Rizzo 9/1
Cory Seager 12/1
Freddie Freeman 14/1
Daniel Murphy 22/1
Paul Goldschmidt 25/1
Yoenis Cespedes 33/1
Clayton Kershaw 33/1
Andrew McCutchen 33/1
Buster Posey 33/1
Max Scherzer 33/1
Kyle Schwarber 33/1
Giancarlo Stanton 33/1
Joey Votto 33/1
Matt Carpenter 50/1
Adrian Gonzalez 50/1
Trea Turner 50/1
Starling Marte 55/1
Carlos Gonzalez 66/1
Charlie Blackmon 100/1
Ryan Braun 100/1
Adam Eaton 100/1
Maikel Franco 100/1
Matt Kemp 100/1
DJ LeMahieu 100/1
AJ Pollock 100/1
Addison Russell 100/1
Jonathan Villar 100/1
Christian Yelich 100/1
Odds to win the 2017 National League Cy Young Award
Clayton Kershaw 8/5
Max Scherzer 7/2
Madison Bumgarner 10/1
Noah Syndergaard 10/1
Jake Arrieta 16/1
Jon Lester 16/1
Stephen Strasburg 16/1
Johnny Cueto 16/1
Jacob deGrom 25/1
Zack Greinke 25/1
Matt Harvey 25/1
Gerrit Cole 33/1
Kyle Hendricks 33/1
Kenta Maeda 33/1
Carlos Martinez 33/1
Tanner Roark 33/1
Adam Wainwright 33/1
Julio Teheran 40/1
Dan Straily 50/1
Kenley Jansen 66/1
Marc Melancon 66/1
Bartolo Colon 100/1
2017 Regular Season MLB Home Run Leader
Giancarlo Stanton 8/1
Nolan Arenado 9/1
Kris Bryant 10/1
Chris Davis 10/1
Nelson Cruz 14/1
Edwin Encarnacion 14/1
Bryce Harper 14/1
Manny Machado 14/1
Mark Trumbo 14/1
Josh Donaldson 16/1
Kyle Schwarber 18/1
Paul Goldschmidt 20/1
Mike Trout 20/1
Khris Davis 28/1
Anthony Rizzo 28/1
Gary Sanchez 28/1
Miguel Sano 28/1
George Springer 28/1
Brian Dozier 33/1
Jose Abreu 40/1
Jose Bautista 40/1
Miguel Cabrera 40/1
Yoenis Cespedes 40/1
Adam Duvall 40/1
Todd Frazier 40/1
Mike Napoli 40/1
Chris Carter 50/1
Carlos Gonzalez 50/1
JD Martinez 50/1
Rougned Odor 50/1
Trevor Story 50/1
Robinson Cano 66/1
Mookie Betts 66/1
Carlos Correa 66/1
Corey Seager 66/1
Justin Upton 66/1
Ian Desmond 75/1
Maikel Franco 75/1
Freddie Freeman 75/1
Joey Gallo 75/1
Aaron Judge 75/1
Matt Kemp 75/1
Evan Longoria 75/1
Carlos Santana 75/1
Adrian Beltre 100/1
Jay Bruce 100/1
Evan Gattis 100/1
Adrian Gonzalez 100/1
Adam Jones 100/1
Kendrys Morales 100/1
Albert Pujols 100/1
Hanley Ramirez 100/1
Addison Russell 100/1
Kyle Seager 100/1
Yasmany Tomas 100/1
Troy Tulowitzki 100/1
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