EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe All-Star break is the traditional "halfway point" of the MLB season and frequently a good time to reflect on how each team's expectations for 2026 may have changed since March.Some teams will be looking to make a push for the postseason, while others may have already begun to set their sights on the future. Either way, there's a lot of schedule still left to be played. Games will be won, home runs will be hit and bases will be stolen. Predicting how it all will turn out come October is no easy task, but our experts are up to the challenge.With that in mind, we asked Todd Zola, Derek Carty, Eric Karabell and Tristan H. Cockcroft to put their heads together and give us their best bets for the second half of the 2026 MLB season in order to give us an idea as to how things just might turn out when all is said and done.Note: All odds provided by DK Sports and accurate as of publication time.Team futuresNew York Yankees to reach ALCS (+145)It's rare to find value on a great team, but my prediction system (THE BAT X) currently projects the Yankees to make the ALCS 47.3% of the time, compared to the 40.8% implied by the odds. This does assume that Aaron Judge returns (and plays about 35 games) and it's based on the assumption that the Yankees have a greater chance to win the division than the Rays (about a 55% chance). Either of those not happening would hurt our chances to win this wager but as of now, this is definitely giving us +EV. -- CartyBoston Red Sox to make playoffs (+425)It hasn't been a banner first half for Boston, but teams may not need to win half its games to make the AL playoffs. The Red Sox have played considerably better of late, including a series sweep of the Yankees, and the pending returns of LHP Garrett Crochet and OF Roman Anthony must help. Consider the odds on the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers, too. The second wild-card spot in the underachieving AL is wide open. -- KarabellDetroit Tigers to win 80+ games (+200)While everyone theorizes on Tarik Skubal's trade destination, the Tigers have quietly turned their once-lost season around. Since June 1, they've got MLB's fourth-best winning percentage, thanks in large part to their league-leading 3.04 team ERA. A team 11.5 games back in the division and sporting the worst overall record (22-38) at the time, the Tigers are now as good a bet to get to 80 wins as any AL Central team, despite longer odds than the Chicago White Sox or Minnesota Twins.Remember, this team climbed from a seemingly inescapable hole to make the postseason two seasons ago, so there's precedent here. In fact, I'd even consider taking the Tigers at +475 to win the division. -- CockcroftTexas Rangers to win AL West (+255)The Seattle Mariners are -155 to win the division, but THE BAT X isn't sold on them as runaway favorites just yet. It's giving the Rangers a 36.2% chance to win the division, and they'd only need to have a 28.2% chance in order for us to break even on this bet. There are certainly question marks here in terms of player health, but those appear to be overly baked into the line. -- CartyMiami Marlins to win NL and Division (200-1)Look at the standings and one may be surprised just how close the Marlins are to the top. OK, so perhaps you cannot name three Marlins, but there is ample talent on hand. This franchise has every incentive to buy at the trade deadline. The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies are clearly flawed. The Marlins have never won a division title. The Phillies are 11-1 to win both the NL East and the NL. That is reasonable. Miami's odds are so wild ... so take a chance! -- KarabellMilwaukee Brewers to win the World Series (11-1)The Los Angeles Dodgers are the prohibitive favorite to make it three in a row, and continue to "ruin baseball" by buying another championship. Well, two years ago the San Diego Padres had them on the ropes. Last season, the Toronto Blue Jays were literally within inches of winning it all. The Dodgers' pitching is not assured to work out exactly as needed (Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell) and the Brewers have the front-line pitching and bullpen for a long playoff run. They also have a deep farm system and have shown the willingness to make moves when they are competitive. There will be no three-peat this season. -- ZolaPittsburgh Pirates to make the playoffs (+250)The Pirates enter the break sitting fifth in the Wild Card standings, one game behind the St. Louis Cardinals and two behind the Marlins. However, their run differential is better than both of those clubs, so leapfrogging them wouldn't be much of a stretch. Konnor Griffin will be missed, but Oneil Cruz and Spencer Horwitz should return soon after the break. Plus, it appears that the kid gloves will be taken off Jared Jones. Raise the Jolly Roger into the NL's Wild-Card round. -- ZolaAwards futuresJunior Caminero to win AL MVP (+600)The AL's MVP Award might appear set on a platter for Yordan Alvarez (-160), but let's play contrarian. Alvarez has reached the 140-game threshold in only two of the last five seasons, and he has played in only 76% of his teams' second-half games over that time. He's also largely a DH (79 of his 93 games) on a team that might not even reach October, so a "take the field" MVP bet isn't an irrational one.Caminero is one of the hottest hitters on the planet right now while also on a team that might emerge atop one of the game's most competitive divisions. There's only a 0.3 WAR gap between these two, and if Caminero can put forth an August and September like his May and June, he might well make up that difference and then some. -- CockcroftJoe Ryan to win AL Cy Young (30-1)I see the AL Cy Young race as being wide-open, to the point that even two-time defending winner, Tarik Skubal (60-1), is very much still in the race despite his missed time. Ryan's case is a doozy as trade rumors swirl, with many of them landing him in NL cities and blowing this bet.Staying put in Minnesota saddles him with the run/bullpen support anchor. I'm not a believer in the Twins offense, despite year-to-date returns that have held Ryan to a 6-5 record thus far. But, given the choice (and especially at these odds), I'm taking the pitcher whose K-BB% (6th), FIP (6th) and xERA (6th) are all top-shelf, and competitive with those of current favorites Cam Schlittler and Dylan Cease. After all, who's to say an AL contender like the White Sox, Athletics or Blue Jays couldn't swoop in and land Ryan? -- CockcroftJesus Luzardo to lead the NL in strikeouts (19-1)This assumes that the Brewers manage Jacob Misiorowski's workload -- and they're already starting to do just that it by skipping his start on the last Sunday of the first half and keeping him out the first weekend of the second half. In addition, he'll be hard-pressed to maintain the historical 39.6% strikeout rate that he's recorded over his first 111 innings. Only Gerrit Cole in 2019 sustained a higher rate for a pitcher throwing at least 100 frames. That leaves Cristopher Sanchez and Luzardo as the logical challengers. Luzardo is currently behind his Phillies teammate, but has made one fewer start and sports a higher K%. With better odds, we'll go in his direction. -- ZolaZack Wheeler to win NL Cy Young (25-1)Wheeler, despite an incredible recovery from thoracic outlet syndrome, is having a remarkable season at age 36. He cannot match the numbers provided by Milwaukee's Misiorowski, but who can? Wheeler does have some important narrative on his side, from his All-Star game snub to having already finished second in Cy Young voting twice, to the fact he plans to retire when his contract ends after the 2027 season. Hey, you never know ... Wheeler's numbers may look similar to Misiorowski's come October. -- Karabell
