Odds To Win National League Pennant

The Philadelphia Phillies won the National League pennant in 2008 and 2009, but they were bounced by the Giants in the NLCS last year. 5Dimes expects Philly to bounce back, as the club is a runaway favorite on National League futures. Let’s examine the top contenders.

Philadelphia Phillies
NL odds: +170

Philly boasts the best rotation in baseball. As if having Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels wasn’t enough, the club went out and added Cliff Lee in the offseason. The lineup is jammed with former All-Stars, so if it can stay healthy—a pretty big if—the Phillies should run away with the NL pennant.

San Francisco Giants
NL odds: +825

The defending champs return with their team nearly completely intact. The Giants’ soft lineup was carried by dominant pitching, but San Fran was pretty lucky in terms of avoiding injuries last season. The team will be in contention in the NL West, but the Giants got too many bounces last season—it’s hard to believe they will earn the same luck in 2011.

Colorado Rockies
NL odds: +1175

The Rockies finished third in the NL in runs last season, they’re expecting even more offense with Todd Helton showing signs of a rebound; Helton will give star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki some protection. The real question mark is pitching. Beyond Ubaldo Jimenez, there’s not much spectacular here. Colorado needs second-year pitcher Jhoulys Chacin to pick up where he left off (2.24 ERA, 58 Ks in 60.1 IP after the All-Star break).

Milwaukee Brewers
NL odds: +1175

Milwaukee offers some nice value here, even with a few injuries this spring. The rotation already boasted underrated star Yovani Gallardo, but Milwaukee went out and added Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum in the offseason. With Randy Wolf pitching fourth, that’s a formidable rotation (or it will be by May; Greinke has cracked ribs and will miss the beginning of the season). The lineup has a few scrapes too, but will eventually have Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Corey Hart and Ricki Weeks at its disposal. Milwaukee looks like the second best team in the National League.

Best of the rest

Atlanta Braves
NL odds: +1200

Atlanta is rammed with young talent; we’re just waiting to see if they’re ready to make The Leap.

Cincinnati Reds
NL odds: +1200

Cincy stood pat in the offseason. The Reds have a great lineup (tops in NL runs in 2010), but they need an big improvement from their pitchers to contend for a pennant.

St. Louis Cardinals
NL odds: +1300

Albert Pujols’ contract situation was supposed to be the biggest issue of the year. Then Adam Wainwright blew out his elbow. Wainwright had 39 wins, 400-plus strikeouts and a sub-3.00 ERA over the last two years. When he went down, so did St. Louis’ pennant hopes.