2026 World Series Picks: Best Bets & Predictions for MLB Postseason with Ariel Epstein

I’m about to tell you who’s going to win the National League, and it’s not the Dodgers.

If you are betting on the Dodgers at +200 to win the World Series, you’re insane. The playoffs haven’t even started yet. They shouldn’t be +200 at Hard Rock Bet Sportsbook.

There is a ton of value in the National League right now. I’m going to tell you exactly who I like. I’ll mention some other teams that are definitely there in terms of value, but there’s one that I’m looking at that really has a chance to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Everyone loves the Dodgers. They are the biggest name in baseball right now. They’ve got an injured Shohei Ohtani and a rotation that’s hurt all the time, but let’s make them +200 to win the World Series because they’re the Dodgers.

Atlanta Braves (+1100): My Favorite World Series Bet

Let’s start with the Atlanta Braves. The Braves are +1100 at Hard Rock Bet to win the World Series. I’m going all the way to win the World Series because the World Series should go through the National League. The American League is atrocious.

Look at the Braves just in terms of pitching. The Braves are sitting fourth-best overall as a team. Then you look at the Braves bullpen – they’re the third-best in baseball.

Now look at hitting. The Braves are 10th in OPS right now. In batting average, they’re ninth.

That means we are looking at a Braves team that is top 10 in pretty much every statistical category that matters for a team that’s going to make a postseason run, and you’re getting them at 11-1.

I think it’s a no-brainer.

Atlanta’s Starting Rotation Is My One Concern

The only thing that scares me about the Braves is the starting rotation beyond their ace, Chris Sale.

After Sale, you’ve got Tyler Mahle, Grant Holmes, Martín Pérez and J.R. Ritchie. It’s not the greatest starting rotation.

The bullpen does help make up for it, though, as one of the best in Major League Baseball. As long as you can get Sale to give you a solid six or seven innings – hopefully seven – the Braves at +1100 are my favorite play right now to win the World Series.

Philadelphia Phillies (+1500): Can You Trust the Bats and Bullpen?

Next on the list, I would look at the Philadelphia Phillies sitting at +1500 to win the World Series.

We know the Phillies have a lot of the credentials. They have experienced veteran players, and they have a great manager in Don Mattingly right now, who I would love to see get a World Series ring. It would be the first of his career.

However, the Phillies are struggling in just about every category where the Braves excel, with one major exception: the starting rotation. Philadelphia’s rotation can go toe-to-toe with anybody. You’ve got Wheeler and Sanchez as a one-two punch.

If you talk to anybody who’s won a World Series, my MLB friends have told me that one-two punch is the most important thing.

Why I Can’t Trust Philadelphia

Here’s where the Phillies scare me compared to the Braves. Philadelphia is 20th in batting average and 22nd in OPS. If you’re not going to score runs, you’re going to have a problem.

Then you look at the relievers, and Philly is still down there at 21st.

Even though Philly has great odds at +1500 to win the World Series, that price is there for a reason. The Phillies do not have the bullpen depth to get them through the postseason unless they go on a great run.

Remember a few years ago when the Phillies went on a run to the NLCS because the bullpen got hot at the right time? The Diamondbacks did the same thing and made it all the way to the World Series.

That’s the kind of run I would need to see from the Phillies. The bullpen has proven nothing. The bats are boom or bust. I can’t trust Philly enough to put my hard-earned money on them to beat the Dodgers in the NL, so I’m going to say no to Philly.

But I understand why people like the value. Starting rotation, veterans, experience – it all helps in the postseason. The Bank also gives them a big home-field advantage in the playoffs.

But I just can’t trust it.

Milwaukee Brewers (+600): Why I’m Fading Them

You’re probably wondering, Ariel, how come you’re not talking about the Milwaukee Brewers at +600 to win the World Series, the second-shortest odds behind the Dodgers?

Yes, the stats are all there. When you look at MLB.com, the Brewers are sitting in the top five in every statistical category I care about. Starting rotation, bullpen, OPS, average – whatever you want to look up, the Brewers are in the top five. They’re great.

That’s why they have the second-shortest odds behind the Dodgers. There is certainly value on the Brewers at +600.

So why do I have no interest in betting them?

I Don’t Trust Milwaukee to Get Over the Hump

When we talk about veterans, experience and the caliber of team you need to beat the Dodgers, the Brewers don’t have it.

The Brewers have made the playoffs seven of the last 10 years. They’ve won the division four years in a row. So how come this team hasn’t been to the World Series since 1982?

There is something about the Brewers where they just can’t get over the hump. I don’t like betting on teams that can’t get over the hump. Sure, you could make that argument about the Phillies, too, but there is a lot more experience on that team – and I still don’t like the Phillies.

My point is, I’m not interested in the Brewers. You’re talking about a division-winning team that every year has been a major letdown in the postseason. They lost in the NLCS last year and have lost two of the last four times they’ve played in the Wild Card round. I don’t trust the Brewers.

So I am not going to tell you to bet on Milwaukee at +600. You have to get +1000. 10-1 is what I need in order for any team to be bettable.

Based on how often the Brewers have collapsed in the postseason despite having all the stats, I can’t take them at a terrible +600 price to win the World Series.

Chicago Cubs (+1400): Major Pitching Problem

There was one team I really wanted to believe in at the trade deadline. If you go back to my trade deadline video on the teams that have value, you’ll see that I spoke very highly about these Cubs.

The Cubs are sitting at +1400 at Hard Rock Bet, and Chicago should have all the value in the world. The Cubs have one big issue, and that’s starting pitching. Their starting rotation is sitting close to the bottom 10, around 19th.

The bullpen is at least a little bit better, currently sitting at 14th. Then you have the bats, which can outslug anybody. The Cubs have the best OPS in baseball at the moment.

Yet, I can’t trust their starting rotation.

Can Chicago’s Rotation Hold Up in the Postseason?

The reason I liked the Cubs right after the trade deadline was because they went after pitching following all the injuries to their rotation heading into August.

Kevin Gausman can’t pitch on the road. He can barely give you five innings, and he’s an old man.

Then you’ve got Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Clay Holmes – who’s a former closer – and David Peterson. We’re talking about Holmes and Peterson closing out your rotation. They’re basically secondary guys.

Imanaga should be better. I would actually trust him more than Gausman, but ESPN’s depth chart has Gausman as your ace, which is weird.

I just don’t trust the Cubs’ starting rotation to go toe-to-toe with another team like the Dodgers, Brewers or Braves. Chicago probably has the worst rotation out of all the teams that I’ve listed. And it is so unfortunate because their bullpen and their bats could probably get them through a lot of games.

The Cubs at +1400 do have value, but do I trust that starting rotation in L.A. against the Dodgers? Absolutely not.

When one of your top three guys, like Gausman, can’t give you more than four or five innings, you’re relying on someone like Imanaga to give you six.

Even with a bullpen ranked 14th, I don’t know if Chicago can withstand how few innings its starting rotation might give them, especially if the Cubs have to play in the Wild Card round.

Ariel Epstein’s 2026 World Series Best Bet

Those are the teams in the National League that I feel have a chance against the Dodgers while still offering some value – especially the Atlanta Braves.

• Ariel Epstein’s 2026 World Series Pick: Atlanta Braves (+1100)

Referenced odds are subject to change.