Guardians 2023 MLB futures: Cleveland most popular team at sportsbook to win division title despite injury to Triston McKenzie

The most wide-open division entering the 2023 MLB season, which begins Thursday, is likely the AL Central. There's no clear-cut favorite among defending champion Cleveland, Minnesota and the Chicago White Sox. The team that has taken the most action of any at BetMGM to win its division is the Guardians at +125 in the Central, but they have a sudden issue in their starting rotation. 

Cleveland won 80 games and missed the playoffs in the 2021 season, but improved to 92 victories last year and its first division title since 2018. Manager Terry Francona's team lost in the ALDS in five games to the New York Yankees. Francona was voted the AL Manager of the Year for the third time after he guided the youngest roster in the majors to the postseason.

The Guardians won on the back of their pitching staff, which posted a combined ERA of 3.46. That group will be without breakout star Triston McKenzie for up to eight weeks.

The 25-year-old right-hander McKenzie will be shut down from throwing for two weeks after an MRI revealed a strain in his right teres major muscle and may need up to eight weeks to return to play. McKenzie underwent the MRI and was examined by Dr. Jason Genin in Goodyear, Ariz. one day after exiting his start against Cincinnati in Cleveland's Cactus League finale. McKenzie pitched one inning but left after feeling tightness in his right triceps. He missed the 2019 season with a strained muscle in the rotator cuff in his right shoulder when he was in the minors.

McKenzie was scheduled to start the second game of the season in Seattle on Friday. Last year, McKenzie was 11-11 with a 2.96 ERA and 0.95 WHIP with 190 strikeouts in a career-high 191.1 innings. He is +2200 at DraftKings to win the 2023 Cy Young Award. The Guardians have had their starting rotation set since the end of last season, so this throws a bit of a wrench into Francona's plans. Multi-inning reliever Hunter Gaddis could be shifted to the rotation, as he's stretched out to about 70 pitches.

The AL Central, in a bit of a surprise, has taken the most action of the six divisions in odds to win the World Series with 31% of all tickets, well ahead of the AL East (21%).