First pitch of the 2019 World Series is eight hours away, and it should be a heck of a pitching matchup all series long. Max Scherzer and Gerrit Cole square off in Game 1, Stephen Strasburg and Justin Verlander meet in Game 2, and Zack Greinke and Patrick Corbin face each other in Game 3. The 2019 World Series could not feature a better pair of staffs.

It’s no surprise then that some of the favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook to take home the World Series MVP award are starters. Cole and Verlander top the list, and Scherzer and Strasburg are two of the top four Nationals players on the odds leaderboard.

If you are betting on the MVP award, it comes down to who you think will win the Series and how. New York Yankees infielder Bobby Richardson is the only player in World Series history take home the MVP award as a member of the losing team — the Yankees 4-3 to the Pirates in 1957.

If the Astros win the World Series, it makes sense to jump on Cole more than Verlander. Cole is all but guaranteed to get two starts, while if Houston sweeps Washington, we likely would not see Verlander a second time. If the Astros win this series, there’s a good chance they get into the Nationals bullpen and do some damage. The Astros big four all make sense as options, with Altuve understandably topping the list.

If the Nationals pull the upset, all the top options are fairly logical. The modest dark horse would be Howie Kendrick at 25 to 1. He was 5-for-8 with four RBIs in the Nationals sweep, and earned NLCS MVP. Seven times we’ve seen the LCS MVP take home the World Series MVP. The first time was not until Willie Stargell in 1979, but since 2008 it’s happened three times.

2019 World Series MVP odds

Gerrit Cole: +650
Justin Verlander: +750
Jose Altuve: +1000
Alex Bregman: +1000
George Springer: +1000
Carlos Correa: +1250
Max Scherzer: +1300
Anthony Rendon: +1400
Juan Soto: +1400
Stephen Strasburg: +1400
Yordan Alvarez: +1800
Michael Brantley: +2000
Zack Greinke: +2200
Yuli Gurriel: +2500
Howie Kendrick: +2500
Trea Turner: +2500
Patrick Corbin: +4000
Adam Eaton: +4000
Victor Robles: +4000
Ryan Zimmerman: +5000
Sean Doolittle: +6600
Asdrubal Cabrera: +8000
Robinson Chirinos: +8000
Gerardo Parra: +8000
Josh Reddick: +8000
Anibal Sanchez: +8000
Brian Dozier: +10000
Martin Maldonado: +10000
Roberto Osuna: +10000
Brad Peacock: +10000
Michael Taylor: +10000
Jose Urquidy: +10000
Daniel Hudson: +15000
Kurt Suzuki: +15000
Matt Adams: +20000
Aledmys Diaz: +20000
Jake Marisnick: +20000
Kyle Tucker: +20000
Yan Gomes: +25000
Will Harris: +25000
Ryan Pressly: +25000
Tanner Rainey: +25000
Fernando Rodney: +25000
Bryan Abreu: +50000
Roenis Elias: +50000
Javy Guerra: +50000
Joshua Games: +50000
Hector Rondon: +50000
Joe Smith: +50000
Austin Voth: +50000

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