Astros Slight -104 Series Underdogs to Athletics in 2020 ALDS
By David Golokhov in MLB Baseball
Published:
- The Houston Astros will face the Oakland Athletics in the American League Division Series
- The A’s won the regular season series 7-3
- The A’s haven’t been to the ALCS since 2006 even though they’ve made the playoffs six times since then
The American League Division Series will be an all-American League West affair. The Houston Astros have opened as slight underdogs to the Oakland Athletics in the best-of-five series.
After plenty of bad blood in the regular season meetings, a playoff showdown sounds about right.
All games will take place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, starting on Monday, Oct. 5th.
Astros vs Athletics ALDS Odds
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Houston Astros | -104 |
| Oakland Athletics | -114 |
Odds as of Oct 2 at DraftKings.
A’s Dominated the Regular Season Series
The A’s weren’t thrilled with the Astros drum-banging cheating scandal and they made sure to let them know about it. Oakland seemed extra focused in the regular season meetings between the teams, winning seven of the 10 contests. Houston didn’t win a full-length game; all three wins were in the seven-inning shorties.
Astros Are Not the Juggernaut They Once Were
The Astros have been one of the primary World Series contenders out of the American League over the last few seasons, but this year’s team is a few notches below.
To start, Houston lost reigning Cy Young-winner Justin Verlander to Tommy John surgery as well as closer Roberto Osuna.
In terms of batting, the Astros finished with a team slash line of .240/.312/.408 this season, which is pretty weak. The unit will be without stud youngster Yordan Alvarez, which is a big loss. Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman combined for just 16 home runs. They don’t appear to be a serious factor in the World Series odds.
The Astros should be happy to be here as they finished the regular season 29-31. In a normal year, they would have been nowhere near the playoffs. They also beat the Minnesota Twins in their Wild-Card series, a franchise that has lost 18 straight playoff games.
The Astros have an edge in playoff experience here but that’s about it.
A’s Have History of Playoff Shortcomings
The A’s and their moneyball brand have regularly found regular-season success while steadily falling short in the playoffs. Oakland hasn’t been to the American League Championship Series since 2006, despite making the playoffs six times since then. They haven’t won a game in the ALCS since 1992.
The good news is that the A’s clearly have the better pitching here, finishing fifth in team ERA. They just need to play against the Astros the way they did in the regular season and they’ll advance.
What’s the Best Bet?
The A’s are always a dicey bet in the playoffs – especially when you look at their lineup. They don’t really have a dominant ace on the staff that scares anyone, they are short on playoff experience, and their batting lineup is a concern (25th in team batting average).
At the same time, the Astros just aren’t the team they were in previous years. With a rotation headlined by Zack Greinke and Lance McCullers Jr., that’s a big step down from Verlander and Gerrit Cole.
The A’s dominated the regular-season series and they should do enough here to get the series win and advance.
Pick: Athletics (-114)
Sports Writer
For over 15 years, Dave has been working in mainstream media and sports betting. He hosted a station on Sirius Satellite Radio for four years, and is currently a senior writer for AskMen. He's interviewed hundreds of hundreds of high-profile sports stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Floyd Mayweather.
