Yankees current odds to win World Series, ALCS and AL East following hot start
Flash back to spring training and it seemed like anything that could go wrong, did for the Yankees.
Not only did their ace Gerrit Cole get sidelined and eventually placed on the 60-day injured list (IL) with nerve irritation in his right elbow, but Aaron Judge, a five-time All-Star and the AL MVP in 2022, missed a good chunk of spring training due to abdominal strain.
It seemed like another season of disappointment was in store for the Bronx Bombers following a 2023 campaign where they had their fewest wins (82) in a 162-game season since 1992 -- the most recent time they didn't finish above .500 -- when they went 76-86 before winning four World Series over the next eight seasons.
Back to the present day, things couldn't be more of the opposite.
Following a 7-2 win over the White Sox on Sunday afternoon, the Yankees extended their season-high winning streak to seven games, with back-to-back sweeps against AL Central opponents in the White Sox and Twins last week.
New York currently sits atop the throne in the American League at 33-15, trailing only the Phillies (34-14) for the best record in all of baseball right now.
With nearly 30 percent of the regular season in the books, here are the betting odds in New Jersey for the Yankees to win the World Series, the pennant and the AL East in late May.
New York Yankees odds to win 2024 World Series: +800
With such a hot start, it's easy to understand why the Yankees reside as the favorites in the AL to win their first championship in 15 years.
Both outfield superstar sluggers -- Juan Soto and Aaron Judge -- are the top-two favorites to win AL MVP nearing June. Soto, the big addition of the offseason, got off to a notoriously hot start and currently sports a .311 batting average and ranks top-10 in home runs (11), runs batted in (37), OPS .963 and walks (32).
After a 1-for-16 start to the regular season and hitting only .220 in the month of April, Judge has completely turned around.
The three-time Silver Slugger splits in May going into tonight's series opener versus the Mariners are as follows:
.386 batting average, seven home runs, 14 RBIs, 15 walks and a whopping 1.433 OPS in 17 contests.
Judge is truly the definition of on fire after a slow beginning to this season.
Yankees odds to win American League: +275
Another reason the Bronx Bombers are the frontrunners in the AL is because of how dominant their pitching has been in 2024.
With Cole continuously making progress to get back to the Bronx, New York's rotation hasn't skipped a beat without him.
Nearly 50 games into the regular season and the pitching staff has allowed an MLB-best 2.81 ERA.
All five starters -- Nestor Cortes, Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt -- all have an ERA of 3.56 or better, with three of them (Rodon, Gil and Schmidt) earning five victories so far.
This includes a record setting 14 strikeout performance from Gil in Saturday's 6-1 win over the White Sox, who passed Orlando “El Duque’’ Hernandez’s rookie record of 13 punch outs in 1998 for the Yankees.
Heading into Sunday's series finale, the Bronx Bombers starters have a microscopic 0.46 ERA in their previous six outings.
Yankees odds to win AL East: -159
With such dominance on the mound and at the plate, it should be no surprise the Yanks are right now the odds-on-favorites over the preseason consensus favorite Orioles, who sit two games behind New York in the division.
The scary thing is that the Yankees could get even better with eventual return of Cole and outfielder Jasson Dominguez, who could be back in the lineup as early as next month after undergoing Tommy John surgery last September following a brief, yet successful stint in the majors (four home runs in eight games) eight months ago.
It might be worth waiting for the Bronx Bombers to cool off to get better odds on any of these future bets, but there's no denying that the Yankees could continue this early hot streak for a majority of the season, therefore a possibility of not getting current day prices if you decide to wait down the line.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees 2024 World Series, pennant, AL East odds after hot start
