Atlanta Braves Odds: Why You Should Not Bet on the Braves to Win the 2023 World Series

It has been a memorable, record-breaking season for the Atlanta Braves, who will enter the upcoming MLB playoffs favored to win the World Series for the second time in three seasons.

Led by likely NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr., the first member of the 40-homer, 70-stolen base club, MLB home run leader Matt Olson, and MLB strikeout leader Spencer Strider, the Braves have made light work of winning a sixth consecutive NL East title and reached the 100-win mark for the second straight season.

After winning over 100 games in the regular season, only 11 wins separate Atlanta from the Commissioner’s Trophy.

As straightforward as that task is, achieving it is an entirely different story. In fact, it’s far more likely that Atlanta’s season will end in disappointment, not championship glory.

Atlanta Braves World Series & National League Pennant Odds

Odds are via Bovada as of 11:30 am ET Saturday, September 30, 2023.

Odds to Win the 2023 World Series

• Atlanta Braves +220
• Los Angeles Dodgers +375
• Baltimore Orioles +550
• Texas Rangers +700
• Houston Astros +950
• Tampa Bay Rays +1000
• Philadelphia Phillies +1300
• Milwaukee Brewers +1800

2023 National League Pennant Winner Odds

• Atlanta Braves +110
• Los Angeles Dodgers +170
• Philadelphia Phillies +600
• Milwaukee Brewers +800

History Heavily Stacked Against Atlanta

Olson’s Otherworldly Offensive Output a Bad Omen for Braves Country?

After hitting 34 homers and driving in 103 runs in his first season as a Brave, Matt Olson has had a career year in 2023.

The sweet-swinging first baseman has already set new single-season franchise records for home runs and RBI, and he will end the year with career highs in homers, RBI, runs, and batting average.

However, you have to go all the way back to 1980 for the most recent time that the MLB home run leader was a member of that season’s World Series-winning team.

That year, Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt belted a league-leading 48 homers for the Phillies, who defeated the Kansas City Royals in the World Series.

Since then, there have been six instances where the MLB home run leader was on the losing end in the World Series:

• 1982: Gorman Thomas (Milwaukee Brewers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals)
• 1983: Mike Schmidt (Phillies lost to the Baltimore Orioles)
• 1988: Jose Canseco (Oakland Athletics lost to the Dodgers)
• 1989: Kevin Mitchell (San Francisco Giants lost to the A’s)
• 1995: Albert Belle (Cleveland lost to Atlanta)
• 2012: Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers lost to the Giants)

There have been a few instances where someone led either the American League or National League in homers then went on to win the World Series.

In 2004, Manny Ramirez was the American League’s home run leader, and he and the Boston Red Sox went on to celebrate the franchise’s first World Series title in 86 years.

Five years later, Mark Teixeira and Carlos Pena tied for the AL lead in homers, and Teixeira’s Yankees went on to defeat the Phillies in the 2009 World Series.

Extra Hardware Hard to Come by for MVP Winners

Early in September, it looked like there might be some suspense in the NL MVP race down the stretch, but Acuna shut that down with an excellent month.

But across the major professional sports leagues in the United States–MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL–winning the highest individual award does not often mean much for team success in the postseason.

In MLB, the last time an MVP winner won the World Series was 2018, when Mookie Betts–the likely NL MVP runner-up this season–helped lead the Red Sox to their most recent championship.

On the hardwood, no one has won NBA MVP and the NBA championship in the same season since Stephen Curry in 2014-15, when he and the Golden State Warriors won the first of their three titles in four seasons.

On the ice, the double hasn’t been done since the 2003-04 season. In that campaign, Martin St. Louis won the Hart Memorial Trophy, and he and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Calgary Flames to win the Stanley Cup for the first time.

The most recent MVP and championship winner combo is on the gridiron, where Patrick Mahomes took home NFL MVP honors and led the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl win this past season.

Where to Bet on the Atlanta Braves and MLB in 2023

Most top online sportsbooks offer a wide variety of MLB odds throughout the season.

In addition to being able to make daily MLB picks on games from Opening Day until the final game of the Fall Classic, you can also bet on the other major awards (MLB MVP odds, AL & NL Cy Young Award odds, and MLB Rookie of the Year odds) and World Series odds.

Along with Bovada, where the odds in this article came from, there are plenty of sports betting sites you can choose from that are good for MLB betting.

Here are some of the other books that we have reviewed and highly recommend:

• BetOnline
• BetUS
• Bookmaker
• MyBookie
• Sportsbetting.ag

If you don’t have an account at a book on this list, check out our reviews to help you determine if it is worth your interest and your betting funds.