Seager, Ohtani Lead Hot Bats in Los Angeles

The two Los Angeles baseball teams got some of their big bats going on Monday in Cactus League action. The Angels didn’t get the win, but they saw two-way player Shohei Ohtani go deep twice against Cincinnati. Meanwhile, Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager slammed his fifth home run of the spring in a 12-5 win over Colorado. 

Ohtani went deep in his first two at-bats, hitting the homers off another two-way player Michael Lorenzen. After an injury-plagued 2020 in which he hit .190 over 44 games and posted a 37.80 ERA in two starts, Ohtani is off to a good start this March. He is 9-for-16 (.563) with three home runs at the plate; on the mound, he has recorded nine strikeouts over four innings. 

Ohtani is listed at +3300 to win the American League MVP  in 2021 and +4000 to win the AL Cy Young. The Angels are +4000 to win the World Series, +2000 to win the American League, +375 to win the AL West, and +160 to make the playoffs. 

Seager Scorching Hot

Corey Seager, the reigning NLCS and World Series MVP, has picked up right where he left off in October. The Dodgers shortstop hit his fifth homer in six games in a 12-5 win over Colorado on Monday. Seager is batting .478 in 23 at-bats with 11 RBI and a slugging percentage of 1.130.

In 52 games last year, Seager hit .307 with 12 doubles, 15 home runs, and 41 RBI. In the playoffs, he batted .364 in the NLDS, .310 in the NLCS, and .400 in the World Series. Seager had five homers and 11 RBI in the NLCS and added two homers with five RBI in the World Series.  

The Dodgers are the World Series favorites at +350 while also favored to win the National League at +175. They are big favorites to win the NL West at -250, and their regular season win total is over 102.5 (-120). 

Seager is +1500 to win the National League MVP, and he isn’t even in the top two favorites on the Dodgers. Outfielders Mookie Betts (+750) and Cody Bellinger (+800) are right behind him. Betts is the NL favorite.

Scherzer is Sizzling

On the pitching side, Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer threw four shutout innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. The former Cy Young winner struck out seven but took a no-decision as the Cardinals won 4-2. Scherzer allowed two hits and finished just shy of 60 pitches. 

So far this spring, the 36-year-old has 14 strikeouts over 8.2 innings while allowing just three hits. 

In the shortened 2020 season, Scherzer was 5-4 with a 3.74 ERA in 12 starts. He struck out 92 batters over 97 ? innings while allowing 10 home runs. Scherzer has struck out at least 240 batters in each of his last seven full seasons, with a career-high of 300 in 2018. 

Scherzer is +950 to win the NL Cy Young, the third-best odds behind Jacob deGrom (+425), and last year’s winner Trevor Bauer (+700). The Nationals are +130 to make the playoffs, +600 to win the NL East, +2000 to win the NL, and +330 to win their second World Series in three years. 

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