Here we are in early June and it’s already been a memorable first couple of months of baseball action in the Major Leagues. Some teams have lived up to the hype, while others have no question sputtered. So, who will take home division titles? In this piece, we have MLB AL Divisional picks 2 months into the season for fans out there to enjoy. The races should keep heating up.
Oh how quickly things can change, as the Yankees are the favorites to win the AL East thanks to their brilliant start to the campaign. Before the 2022 season kicked off, everyone figured the Toronto Blue Jays would run away with the title, as this team also had high MLB odds to win the World Series as well. While Toronto could still go on to surprise some people, it’s the Yankees who are looking strong.
As of this writing, New York is in the first place in the AL East standings with its 33-15 record. The Tampa Bay Rays are five games back, while the Blue Jays are 5.5 games back. Boston has struggled, so they very well might be out of the conversation. It’d take a miracle for the Baltimore Orioles to try and get something done here, so we won’t even talk about them further.
| New MLB odds |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astros to win | -290 | -290 | -290 | -290 |
| Yankees to win | -210 | -210 | -210 | -210 |
| Twins to win | +115 | +115 | +115 | +115 |
| White Sox to win | -105 | -105 | -105 | -105 |
With the Yankees, their pitching has been strong but you’ve of course got to bring up their hot bats. Aaron Judge, who didn’t sign an extension prior to the season starting, has been on a total tear. He’s up there among the favorites to potentially win AL MVP. Giancarlo Stanton is also playing great, while others in the lineup have been able to step their game up too.
According to the best rated sportsbooks, the Yankees currently hold -210 Las Vegas odds to win the AL East. Toronto would love to try and prevent that from happening, but that may be too talk a task. From our chair, we think the Yankees will continue to play strong this summer and in the fall. They’re our pick to win the AL East. Look for this team to make plenty of noise in the playoffs.
Elsewhere, it’s looking like the Astros will surely win the AL West once again this season. Thanks to guys like Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve and others, Houston has been rocking offensively. They hold one of the most feared lineups in the American League and that has been the case for years. The bats have been hot and that’s not going to change this year.
On the bump, the rotation has been solid and the return of Justin Verlander has been great to see. Verlander is looking like his old self despite missing so much time due to injury. Verlander will need to stay healthy the rest of the way, but the veteran pitcher continues to make hitters look silly when they’re up at the dish. Just ask the Seattle Mariners about that.
Speaking of the Mariners, this team has been a major disappointment. Entering the season, people expected Seattle to push for the AL West title and get back to the postseason for the first time since 2001. However, they’re 20-28 on the season and 10.5 games back of the Astros in the standings. No one saw that coming, but Seattle sure has looked rough.
The Angels, led by Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, could make some noise in the title race later this year too. However, with the way the Astros are playing, it sure looks like it will be too tough for anyone to try and catch up to them, especially if Verlander can keep himself healthy. With all of that said, there’s no doubt we’re going with the Astros as our pick to win the AL West.
Lastly, everyone is asking themselves can the White Sox hold off the Twins in the AL Central? This is a two-team race for the divisional title and it’s going to last all the way to late September. For now, Chicago is the favorite. However, Minnesota is ready to try and win the title, as Carlos Correa is now in town making noise. Minnesota is also in first place of the standings.
With that, though, Chicago has so much talent on its roster that they should heat up here pretty damn soon. With that said, Minnesota has really looked sharp to start the season and their fans have some high expectations for the club as a whole. The hype over Correa signing his monster deal with the team during free agency hasn’t slowed down one bit.
Again, these two sides will be ready to duke it out the rest of the way and it should be an interesting finish. Picking one team to come out on top sure is tough, but we’re going to have to go with the Twins to pull off the stunner and win the Central.
