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It’s been a tough year so far for superstars in baseball. The Los Angeles Angels got some bad news on Tuesday evening on AL MVP favorite Mike Trout. He’s expected to miss 6-8 weeks due to a right calf strain suffered during Monday night’s game. With Trout out at least a month and a half, this will have a huge impact on the AL MVP race, the AL West division and fellow superstar Shohei Ohtani. We’ll go over the impact a little bit on the betting lines.
AL MVP odds impact
Prior to the injury news, Trout was the favorite to win AL MVP at +175 on DraftKings Sportsbook. Ohtani was right behind him at +300 on DKSB and you’ve got to think that this injury will shift things a bit. It’s a long season, so there’s still hope Trout can return and get back to playing MVP baseball. Still, a two-month absence would mean Trout could miss upwards of 50-60 games. It’s hard to back any player who misses that percentage of games to win MVP. So you’d think with Ohtani leading MLB in HRs at 13 would jump up and become the favorite with Trout sidelined.
Impact on AL West Division odds
The Halos were +900 to win the AL West, the third-best odd behind the Houston Astros (-112) and Oakland Athletics (+102). With Trout sidelined this long, we could see the Angels drop a bit in the standings even further from 4th place at 18-22. This could have more of an impact on what the Angels decide to do with the roster long term. Unless Ohtani can carry the team, LAA may fall out of contention fast with Trout out. If that’s the case, we could see players traded and another lost season for the Angels.
Impact on Shohei Ohtani
While Ohtani should jump up and become the favorite to win AL MVP, he loses his protection in the lineup. Ohtani usually bats 2nd with Trout 3rd in the order. Without Trout, the Halos lineup becomes less potent. It could positively impact 3B Anthony Rendon, who you would think ends up moving up and batting 3rd with with Jared Walsh at cleanup. Overall, in fantasy baseball term, this could be a bigger boost for Rendon and Walsh. Ohtani is in an insane talent, however, so he should continue to rake, let’s be real.