With player props hitting the board in advance of the 2017 campaign, third baseman Josh Donaldson sports the Toronto Blue Jays‘ top odds to be the MLB leader in home runs this season at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Donaldson, at +2,000 on the odds to lead MLB in home runs, cracked 41 long balls during an AL MVP season in 2015 but fell out of the Top 10 last season with 37 home runs. With the 31-year-old entering the final year of his contract, he is once again expected to power the Blue Jays offence and contend for MVP honours in 2017.
Other Blue Jays receiving consideration on the MLB home run leader odds include outfielder Jose Bautista at +6,000, and both designated hitter Kendrys Morales and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki at a distant +10,000.
Last season with the Kansas City Royals, Morales reached the 30 home run mark for the first time since 2009. Tulowitzki struggled through an injury-plagued campaign last year, but still blasted 24 home runs in 131 games.
Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton leads the way as a +750 betting favourite to emerge as this year’s home run king, well ahead of Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado at +1,250.
A pair of Baltimore Orioles, Manny Machado and Chris Davis, are knotted at +1,500, followed by the Chicago Cubs’ Krys Bryant at +1,600, while five hitters join Donaldson at +2,000 — Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Mark Trumbo, Miguel Sano, and Mike Trout.
On the odds to win the 2017 AL Cy Young, starter Aaron Sanchez leads all Blue Jays hurlers with +2,000 odds, well ahead of Marcus Stroman at +5,000, and J.A. Happ at +8,000.
Sanchez emerged as one of baseball’s most dominant pitchers in 2016, amassing a 15-2 win/loss record and leading the AL with a 3.00 ERA. Stroman won five of his first six starts last season, but struggled down the stretch with losses in five of his final six starts.
New Boston Red Sox starter Chris Sale leads the way as a +200 favourite on the 2017 AL Cy Young odds, ahead of Cory Kluber at +300, and former Blue Jays hurler David Price at +550. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw is +100 chalk on the 2017 NL Cy Young odds, closely trailed by Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals at +300.
In other MLB pitching props for the season ahead, the odds of at least three pitchers reaching 20 wins are listed at a short betting line of -175, while the odds of at least one pitcher recording 50 or more saves are pegged at -163.
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