Very Enticing Future Bet
Time to overreact to early season ball!
Since winning the World Series in 2015, the Kansas City Royals have been consistently one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball. In eight seasons of ball since 2016, Kansas City has not made the playoffs and has not finished higher than 4th in the AL Central since 2018. Last year, the Royals limped into last place in their division with an abysmal 56-106 record. Despite recent woes, I think there is an incredible amount of value in the 2024 Royals.
The Royals are an incredibly exciting baseball club led by legitimate superstar Bobby Witt Jr. (who finished 7th in MVP voting in 2023). Additionally, on offense, 3rd baseman Maikel Garcia has been off to a hot start in 2024, while Kyle Isabel and MJ Melendez round out the Royal’s young offensive core. Despite their youth and inexperience (AVG hitter age is 27.6 years old), Kansas City still has lifelong Royal Salvador Perez as a strong veteran presence in the clubhouse. While they do have some electric young players on offense, I am much more intrigued by the core of the Royals’ pitching rotation.
Kansas City ace Cole Ragans has emerged as a superstar early in 2024, currently holding the 4th shortest odds to win the American League Cy Young award (I have already placed this bet at (+900)). In addition to Ragans, Brady Singer is an intriguing candidate for a bounce-back season after struggling greatly in 2023. While Singer failed to follow up his strong 2022 campaign, he is still a talented pitcher and should have more run support this year compared to 2023. Singer was also quite successful in his lone 2024 start so far, as he recorded 10 Ks in 7 scoreless innings. Finally, despite having Tommy John Surgery in April of 2023, young left-hander Kris Bubic is set to return to the rotation by the middle of the season. Bubic didn’t see too much success in 2022 and missed nearly all of the 2023 season, however he is still only 26 years old and has a good pitch mix. One major concern I have with this ball club is the bullpen. The Royals’ pen primarily contains journeymen veterans who have struggled so far in 2024.
With the Royals having a strong start to the 2024 season and the American League Central being one of the weaker divisions in baseball, I was incredibly surprised to see Kansas City listed at +1700 to win the division. I personally find this to be grossly miss priced and too good to pass up on. While most sportsbooks list the Royals at anywhere from +700 to +1200, FanDuel in Massachusetts is currently offering +1700 which I will personally be placing.
Let me know your thoughts on this pick and if you will be tailing! Also, throw me a follow on Twitter @GRMbets and throw everyone on The Skippers View squad a follow.
Alright, peace y’all!