The Dodgers have lost three of their last four games and thanks to the hard-charging Giants have lost three games off their lead in the National League West, but the gambling community still has Los Angeles as favorites to both win the division and advance to the World Series.
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, starting on Tuesday night against the Nationals, is the favorite to take home some major hardware in November.
Per the online gaming service Bovada, the Dodgers have 1/4 odds (meaning bet $4 to win $1) to win the National League West over the Giants, who have 3/1 odds to win the division. The Dodgers have a two-game lead over San Francisco, with 24 games left to play, including six games against one another.
Baseball Prospectus has the Dodgers at a 73.1-percent chance to win the division and a 98.7-percent chance to make the playoffs (a five-game lead over the Braves, the first team currently on the outside looking in), while Fangraphs has the division a little closer, giving the Dodgers a 66.1-percent chance to win the NL West and a 98.4-percent chance to make the playoffs.
Beyond the division, the Dodgers are also favorites per Bovada to win the NL pennant, at 2/1 odds. The Nationals, who have a two-game lead over the Dodgers for best record in the NL, are next at 5/2 odds, followed by the Cardinals (5/1), Brewers (7/1) and Giants (7/1).
The Dodgers also have 11/2 odds at Bovada to win the World Series, slightly longer than their 5/1 odds on Aug. 1. Only the Angels, owners of the best record in baseball by four games, have shorter odds to win the World Series, at 5/1.
Kershaw is such a favorite to win the National League Cy Young Award that Bovada doesn't even have that bet as an option. But he is also the favorite to win NL MVP at 2/3 odds, ahead of Giancarlo Stanton (6/5 odds) and Andrew McCutchen (10/1).
No National League pitcher has won MVP since Bob Gibson in 1968. It has been done three times in Dodgers history, by Dazzy Vance (1924), Don Newcombe (1956) and Sandy Koufax (1963). Both Newcombe and Koufax won the Cy Young Award in their MVP years as well.