Who will win the World Series?

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With the baseball season in full swing, attention soon falls on the World Series but who will be there and ultimately who will come out on top?

It has been another year full of drama, twists and turns with teams competing for supremacy but can anybody stop the Boston Red Sox on their way to glory? They have looked irresistible throughout the regular season and are currently the odds-on favourites with many online betting companies to complete their season with the World Series title.

But who, if anyone, can catch them?

Houston Astros

The Astros entered the 2018 season as defending champions after claiming their maiden title against the Los Angeles Dodgers in last season’s World Series. They had a rocky pre-season following the suspensions of first baseman Jon Singleton and pitcher Dean Deetz after they tested positive for banned substances.

However, this didn’t seem to faze them when they started the Western league season- they have gone on to win 72 games and losing 42. Their record is far superior to second placed Oakland Athletics who have won five less games. They have faced the Red Sox over the course of the season but there was nothing to separate them with a tie the end result.

Most recently, they have edged out the Dodgers in a repeat of the World Series final last year with a score line of 2-1.

Recently there has been a lot of injuries that have forced the Astros to become creative with their roster rotation. The lineup, in particular, will be revolving door. Thankfully, for Houston they can roll with a four-man starting rotation for a while with the upcoming off-days.

New York Yankees

In a season of much change, Yankees are still a dominant force to be reckoned with. They began this season without manager Joe Girardi for the first time in eleven years and instead the pressure was put onto new manager, Aaron Boone.

There is a fresh feeling to the squad with the additions of all-star second baseman Starlin Castro and reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton. After a fierce opening to the season that saw a brawl at Fenway Park between the Yankees and the Red Sox which saw disciplinary action taken with an abundance of players from each side banned for either five or six games.

Since then, the Yankees have been irresistible and have taken up a commanding position in second place behind the Red Sox, but the New York side have won 13 more games than the side in third place.

The one worry for the Yankees would be an injury to Giancarlo Stanton that could derail their whole campaign. With Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge sidelined for the foreseeable future, losing Stanton would represent an utter collapse in terms of the club’s offense. Not many teams can bounce back from simultaneous injuries to the entire heart of their lineup down the stretch. The Yankees have struggled to produce runs as it is so this would be a worst case scenario for the Yankees, as if this happened their chances of the World Series could be gone with it.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Another franchise that rung the changes in the offseason with the departures of hitting coach Tim Hyers to Boston Red Sox, the farm director Gabe Kapler who left to come manager of the Philadelphia Phillies and his assistant Jeremy Zoll who went to Minnesota Twins.

They went on to bring in outfielder Matt Kemp, utility player Jake Peter and pitcher Scott Alexander. The Dodgers have seamlessly competed for the top spot in the National League West conference as they currently sit second- one win behind the Arizona Diamondbacks. In a very tight conference which looks to be the most competitive in the MLB, they are currently only two wins ahead of the Colorado Rockies.

However, things could be about to change as Yakees recent trade Manny Machado, hyped as perhaps the greatest impact bat ever traded in mid-summer, lived up to expectations in his debut, leading the Dodgers to a 6-4 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Fans have started to believe they are watching the man that can finally lead them to their first World Series title in 30 years.