Ronald Acuna Jr. had -1000 oods to win NL MVP just a few days ago.
That’s until Mookie Betts happened.
Betts leapt ahead of Acuna on Monday as the favorite to win NL MVP, coming in as a slight -145 favorite, with Acuna dropping down to +120 on Caesars Sportsbook.
“It’s been a big swing,” Eric Biggio, the lead MLB trader for Caesars Sportsbook, told The Post. “Mookie Betts has been on a roll through August and has overtaken Ronald Acuña Jr. in WAR, which is what a lot of the MVP voters will be looking at.”
But Acuna must’ve heard the footsteps from Betts as his stranglehold on the MVP award began to loosen.
In between dodging psychotic fans Monday, he put up one of his best games of the season, going 4 for 5 with a home run and two stolen bases with five RBIs and four runs scored.
Barring injury, Acuna is on pace for the league’s first-ever 30/60 season after stealing his 61st base Monday in the Braves’ 14-4 win over the Rockies.
Acuna now sits at -120 on Caesars, while Betts comes in at +100.
This is anyone’s award coming into September.
Betts has hit seemingly impossibly well in the month of August, going on a .446/.500/.782/1.282 tear with eight home runs, 25 RBIs and three stolen bases.
Acuna has hardly tailed off in his own right on a .343/.427/.565/.992, but the odds movement seems to be mostly unprecedented in this short of a time span.
| Mookie Betts | Ronald Acuna Jr. | |
|---|---|---|
| WAR | 7.2 | 6.6 |
| AVG | .312 | .335 |
| HRs | 35 | 29 |
| RBIs | 93 | 79 |
| Runs | 110 | 119 |
| Stolen Bases | 10 | 61 |
| OBP | .406 | .418 |
| SLG | .606 | .572 |
| OPS | 1.011 | .989 |
Take into account that Betts is also playing center field, second base, and shortstop during this time, while the Dodgers have gone 22-4 in August entering Tuesday.
The impressive showing has moved Betts from an afterthought to in a heated race to bring home the National League MVP award.
“We took a bunch of sharp bets on Betts over the weekend from 3/1 to 2/1,” Biggio continued. “(Sunday) was a steady stream of play on Mookie, which prompted the big shift. Looking back, Betts’ NL MVP odds sat at 35/1 on Aug. 18 and 8/1 on Aug. 21, so there’s definitely been some pretty wild movement.”
An odds shift like this that isn’t fueled by an injury is most unprecedented in the awards market like this.
Could Acuna really lose while putting up the first ever 30/60 season with an average north of .320?
Don’t bet on it.
This might be the time to buy the dip on Acuna, despite what Betts does playing multiple different positions for Los Angeles.