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- The Arizona Diamondbacks are in the 2023 World Series, overcoming large odds to reach the postseason.
- A look at the betting odds before the season and where they stand now.
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The 2023 Major League Baseball season is nearing an end. The 2023 World Series matchup will be decided after both league championship games go to decisive game sevens. With the Houston Astros out of the playoffs, one bettor has missed out on a payday in the millions.
Here's a look at the improbable run of the Arizona Diamondbacks and the betting wins people had and could have had.
What Happened: The Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers are ready to square off in the 2023 World Series — a matchup most sports bettors wouldn't have thought possible.
At the start of the 2023 MLB season, the Diamondbacks were underdogs to win the World Series. The club could even go down in history as one of the biggest underdogs in MLB history.
Action Network's Evan Abrams lists the biggest underdogs since 1985 to make the World Series:
- 1991 Atlanta Braves: 200-1 odds, lost in World Series
- 2008 Tampa Bay Rays: 150-1 odds, lost in World Series
- 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks: 125-1 odds, to be determined
- 2006 Detroit Tigers: 100-1 odds, lost in World Series
- 1991 Minnesota Twins: 80-1 odds, won World Series
- 2007 Colorado Rockies: 75-1 odds, lost in World Series
- 2003 Florida Marlins: 75-1 odds, won World Series
- 2023 Texas Rangers: 50-1 odds, to be determined
- 1987 Minnesota Twins: 50-1 odds, won World Series
Both the Rangers and Diamondbacks rank among the biggest upsets ever. If the Diamondbacks can win the World Series, it would be the biggest sports betting MLB upset compared to the preseason odds since at least 1985.
MLB.com shows how improbable the postseason run for the Diamondbacks was with the team having a 15% chance of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs at the start of the season. The team also went on a 16-34 stretch over a 50-game period in the season. This marks the worst 50-game stretch of any World Series team.
The Diamondbacks also entered the season with the 21st-ranked opening day payroll, trailing many of the World Series contenders. In fact, the team's highest-paid player, Madison Bumgarner, is getting paid $23 million, and he’s not on the active roster.
The Diamondbacks are also one of only two 2023 MLB postseason teams to have a negative run difference on the season. They scored 746 runs and allowed 761 runs. The team's 84-78 record is tied for the worst of any team to make this year's playoffs.
All these items working against the team didn't stop a bettor from making a wager that paid off handsomely. On June 5, a bettor with FanDuel, a unit of Flutter Entertainment PDYPY, placed a $25 bet: Diamondbacks and Rangers in the World Series.
The bet paid out with odds of +19,000, turning the $25 bet into a profit of $4,750.
If any bettor placed a wager on the Diamondbacks to win the World Series at the start of the season, they could be sitting on a massive potential payout. A $100 bet on the Diamondbacks could payout a profit of $12,500 if the Diamondbacks win.
A look at preseason picks from MLB experts shows how little love the Diamondbacks got. On ESPN, 28 experts predicted the Padres or Dodgers to win the NL West division. None of the 28 experts picked the Diamondbacks to reach the playoffs. The same can be found on many other sports media sites.
One item that got the Diamondbacks postseason birthright was a simulation of the Sony Group Corp SONY "MLB The Show 23" video game. The simulation correctly predicted the Diamondbacks as a wild card team and predicted the Rangers to reach the World Series. In the simulation, the Atlanta Braves defeated the Rangers in seven games in the World Series.
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What's Next: The Diamondbacks have been underdogs in every postseason matchup so far in the 2023 playoffs. They once again find themselves the underdog against the Rangers.
Odds at sportsbook DraftKings DKNG lists the Rangers as the favorite in the series at odds of -170 and the Diamondbacks at odds of +145.
If the Diamondbacks can continue the trend of proving people wrong, a $100 bet on the World Series win would pay out a profit of $145.
The 2023 World Series kicks off Friday, Oct. 27 with the first of at least four games and a potentially seven games. The games will all be shown on Fox, a unit of Fox Corporation FOXFOXA.
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