World Series odds 2023 update: Favorites to win title heading into Championship round

Chaos reigned in the Divisional round of the 2023 postseason. Gone are the 100-win Braves, Dodgers and Orioles, who managed to win exactly one of nines games in October. Now we’re down to the final four, with the Championship round beginning with Game 1 between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros set for 8:15 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 15. Now that the full field for the Championship round is set, we’ll be looking at the updated World Series odds.

Unsurprisingly, the board is still led by the Astros — who were odds-on title favorites at the start of the postseason — and the Phillies, who outlasted the MLB-best Braves in a dramatic four-game NLDS. The Rangers are a not-too-distant third, though, making a substantial leap after an impressive 5-0 start to the playoffs. The D-backs, meanwhile, remain baseball’s Cinderella story; Arizona has been a long-shot all month, and they’ll be one again here, albeit still with far shorter odds than they had entering the NLDS.

Updated World Series odds entering Championship round

Houston Astros +185Philadelphia Phillies +210

At this point, it’s more than understandable for the reigning World Series champions to have the benefit of the doubt — Houston feels inevitable in October, and they’ll continue to find ways to win until someone knocks them out. They finished with an identical 90-72 record to the Rangers, only snatching the AL West on the season’s final day thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker, but that tiebreaker is also a big part of the reason why oddsmakers have them favored against Texas in the ALCS: Houston took the season series, 9-4, scoring a whopping 83 runs over those nine wins.

Behind them is Philly, who not only has a ton of momentum but also has the easier path to get back to the World Series — no disrespect to Arizona, but the D-backs remain unproven over longer series, and I think they’re just slightly worse than the Phillies across the board. The Phils have the best bullpen remaining, two legit aces in Zack Wheeler and a revitalized Aaron Nola, plus a loaded offense that can’t stop hitting home runs. You could argue that they’re the better bet than Houston based on the Championship Series matchups, but again, we all remember what happened the last time these teams got together in October.

If you’re looking for a dark horse, though, why not Texas? The Rangers have looked every bit as impressive as Houston has this month, sweeping the Rays and top-seeded Orioles with an offense that features no easy outs — and a rotation that’s answered a lot of questions over the past couple of weeks. That rotation will likely be getting Max Scherzer and/or Jon Gray back this round, and while neither of them will be fully stretched out, every little bit helps. Granted, the Astros pounded Texas pitching this year, and they’re deserved favorites. This Rangers lineup is as good as anyone when they’re clicking like this, though, and if they manage to get past their in-state rivals, they could rocket even further up odds boards very quickly.