Betting preview for the MLB playoffs

The Major League Playoffs begin on the final day of September with the 2025 Wild Card Series. The bracket includes four divisional rivals in the American League battling in best-of-3 series - Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Guardians. The National League Series begin with the San Diego Padres at Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles Dodgers. 

The top four teams in the American League and National League get byes into the divisional round - Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies. 

When you watch and wager on the MLB Playoffs and 2025 Wild Card Series, a good place to get in the batters box and take a swing with a top online sportsbook is BetOnline, who offers reduced juice odds.

MLB postseason is just one week away. There will be a wave of new baseball bettors. Make sure you betting into reduced juice odds. Compare:

BOOK A
BOS +130 TOR -159 (29cents)

BOOK B
BOS +136 TOR -162 (26c)

BetOnline
BOS +137 TOR -151 (14c)

— Dave Mason (@DaveMasonBOL) September 23, 2025

MLB Wild Card Series Odds

Leading online sportsbook BetOnline has series and opening game MLB odds and pitching matchups. Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting. We'll add some picks and opinions as well.

Bet on the MLB Playoffs at one of these Elite-rated sportsbooks!

- Detroit Tigers (-128) - Cleveland Guardians (+108)
- Boston Red Sox (+157) - New York Yankees (-180)
- Cincinnati Reds (+245) - Los Angeles Dodgers (-300)
- San Diego Padres (-105) - Chicago Cubs (-115) 

Game 1 - Sept. 30

- Detroit (-159) at Cleveland (+144), Total 6 - 1:08 p.m. ET on ESPN - T. Skubal vs. G. Williams
- Boston (+116) at New York (-128), Total  - 6:08 p.m. ET on ESPN - G. Crochet vs. M. Fried-
- San Diego (+ ) at Chicago Cubs (- ), Total - 3:08 p.m. ET on ABC - N. Pivetta vs. M. Boyd 
- Cincinnati (+175) at LA Dodgers (-194), Total - 9:08 p.m. ET on ESPN - H. Green vs. B. Snell 

Game 1 Picks (P), Opinions (O) and Bets:

O - Tigers/Guardians: First 5 innings Under 3.5 runs
P - Padres/Cubs: Cubs -110 (win full game)
O - Red Sox/Yankees: First 5 innings Over 3.5 runs
P - Reds/Dodgers: First 5 innings LA Dodgers -0.5 runs, Dodgers full game -1.5 runs (+110) 

2025 MLB Postseason Preview (10 minute video)

As I noted during my monthly MLB coverage and key games at Off Shore Gaming Association, the team with the best regular season record hasn't won the World Series since 2018 when the Red Sox won the championship trophy. Recall the Atlanta Braves led MLB last season with 104 wins, but the loaded lineup and pitching staff lost their first playoff series in the divisional round to division rival Philadelphia Phillies, who won the division this season as the Braves became one of the biggest disappointments in baseball. 

I was at Dodger Stadium in Sept. to see Shohei Ohtani pitch 5 shutout innings of no-hit ball and hit a home run in the same game. But LA bumbling manager pulled Ohtani with after 5 innings leading 4-0 citing their strategy and usage for him. The Dodger beleagured bullpen allowed 6 runs in the 6th inning and the Phillies won 9-6. Los Angeles was heavily favored to win the World Series this season and win more than 100 games at the start of the season, and they finished with 93 wins and do not get a bye as a top-2 NL team to open the 2025 MLB playoffs.

The Brewers finished with the best record in baseball and most wins this season with 97, followed by the Phillies (96), Blue Jays (94) and Yankees (94) with Toronto winning the AL East on a tiebreaker. The Guardians (88) rallied to steal the AL Central with a September-best 20 wins that included a 10-game winning streak to overtake the Tigers after trailing Detroit by 10 games on Sept. 1. 

MLB Playoff Teams Pitching and Stats

Six of the top-7 teams in MLB total payroll and 26-man active payroll made the playoffs with the NY Mets ($267.5 million) collapse proving costly to the No. 2 payroll in baseball. The Brewers ($86.9 million), Reds ($82.5 M) and Guardians ($48.6 M) are in the bottom half of the league in total payroll for the 26-man active roster. 

World Series Odds

The top online sportsbooks benefit and profit greatly from championship futures, and they rarely offer value to the bettors at the start of the season. In-season betting on adjusted odds and live betting offer more opportunities to capitalize and cash in, especially with sportsbooks that offer dime lines. Note this update on X from ESPN's gambling reporter on the Guardians, who were nearly 50/1 to win the AL Central in early July. Three months later, they passed the Tigers to take the division lead during their key September series with five games remaining in the regular season. Detroit was -20,000 to win the division on Sept. 1 before Cleveland put together 6 and 10 game winning streak. 

+450: Phillies
+500: Mariners
+550: Dodgers
+600: Brewers
+700: Blue Jays
+750: Yankees
+1200: Padres
+1400: Cubs
+1800: Red Sox
+2000: Tigers
+2200: Guardians
+3300: Reds

Check back throughout the playoffs for additional odds, matchups and picks. The MLB 2025 Wild Card Series will be completed by Thursday, Oct. 2 with all four Divisional Round Series starting on Saturday, Oct. 4. Follow along at OSGA and @FairwayJay on X for any betting updates, prop bets and information you can bet on with other sportsbook, betting and related news from Las Vegas - home of the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders and future MLB Las Vegas Athletics in 2028. 

You can bet on it. 

FairwayJay is a proven sports handicapper and recognized as one of the sports industry's insightful analysts. He chips in additional sports betting coverage and reporting on industry news and events. Follow FairwayJay here at OSGA.com and on X (Twitter) @FairwayJay for more sports betting insights.