Morning Coffee: Ohtani sparks Dodgers, World Series favourite opens with win in Japan

As the 2025 MLB season gets rolling, every fanbase outside of Dodger Nation is cheering for a plot twist.

That’s because if everything goes according to the script, the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers will cruise to another title.

The Dodgers opened the season against the Chicago Cubs in Japan this morning as the obvious betting favourite to win the World Series for the fourth time in five years.

In fact, at +240 to win it all at FanDuel, LA is the biggest pre-season favourite to win the World Series since the 2003 New York Yankees.

That 2003 Yankees team finished with the best record in baseball at 101-61 but were ultimately upset as a heavy favourite against the Florida Marlins in the World Series.

Fast-forward 22 years later, and the biggest question in baseball is whether any team can deliver the curveball that keeps LA from repeating as World Series champs.

The Chicago Cubs got the first crack at them in the first game of the 2025 MLB regular season this morning.

After a quiet start, Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers picked up right where they left off last year with a three-run fourth inning and cruised to a 4-1 win.

In a highly anticipated showdown that featured five Japanese-born players, it was baseball’s biggest superstar who stole the spotlight once again.

This is the Morning Coffee for Tuesday March 18^th, 2025.

Ohtani Sparks Dodgers, World Series Favourite Opens With Win In Japan

It’s easy to forget that Ohtani wasn’t even the top choice to win NL MVP on his own team last year at this time.

After he won the award after another historic season, there was no chance that was going to happen again.

Ohtani is an obvious NL MVP favourite at +145.

This morning, he added another first to his resume.

Ohtani went 2-for-5 with a single, double, and two runs scored in the 4-1 win over the Cubs.

Ohtani became the first National League player ever to record multiple hits and multiple runs scored in a game at the Tokyo Dome.

With Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman both sidelined, Ohtani played the hero again for anybody who jumped on LA to win outright at a decent price at FanDuel.

After coming out on top as a -146 moneyline favourite, the Dodgers are currently -138 to beat the Cubs again in the rematch on Wednesday morning.

Taking a glance at the FanDuel’s futures markets, the difference between LA and every other team is glaring.  

The Dodgers are +240 to win the World Series.

No other team is shorter than +900 to win it all.

The gap between LA and everybody else is even more distinct in the regular season win total market, where LA’s current number (104.5) is at least 10 wins higher than any other team in baseball.

This morning, the Dodgers cruised to an easy win over the Cubs.

Barring a major plot twist, it will be the first of many as the best team in baseball attempts to become the first repeat World Series champions since the Yankees won three straight titles from 1998 through 2000.

A FanDuel Best Bet For Tuesday Night

I’ve already demonstrated that we are going to win more FanDuel Best Bets than we are going to lose in this column over time.

If a FanDuel Best Bet doesn’t hit, I’ll often recap the reason why it didn’t, re-evaluate, then revisit it with a similar bet.

When the Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in a shootout last Thursday night, it wasn’t fun.

Still, it seemed inevitable that the Lighting would bounce back, which is why I had a Same Game Parlay with Nikita Kucherov 2+ shots on goal and Tampa Bay to win as a FanDuel Best Bet in Monday’s column.

As it turns out, I might as well have replaced Kucherov 2+ shots on goal with Kucherov 2+ goals scored.

Turning the page this morning, it’s back to the ice with the spotlight on the Eastern Conference playoff race.

The Ottawa Senators have won six straight and are currently -5000 to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17.

That number represents a 98% implied probability.

The Habs are +330 to reach the postseason – a 23.3 per cent implied probability.

Ottawa is currently -138 to beat Montreal in an important game for both teams that you can watch tonight on TSN.

For my FanDuel Best Bet, I’ll lock in a Same Game Parlay with Dylan Cozens 2+ shots on goal and Cole Caufield 2+ shots on goal at -121.

Dating back to his time with the Buffalo Sabres, Cozens has played the Habs four times this season, and he’s registered 2+ shots on goal in every game.

He’s also hit that mark in three of his last four for Ottawa.

Meanwhile, Caufield has 3+ shots on goal in five of his last six games.

He’s also scored three goals in two games against the Senators this season, with 2+ shots on goal in both games.

Next up, I’ll go with a Mikko Rantanen builder SGP.

Rantanen 1+ point, 2+ shots on goal, and the Dallas Stars to beat the Anaheim Ducks in regulation at +103.

Finally, I’ll take an SGP with Will Cuylle 1+ shot on goal and the New York Rangers to beat the Calgary Flames in regulation at -109.

The Rangers are desperate for points as they try to hold off the rest of the Eastern Conference Wild Card contenders, and with the Flames playing last night in Toronto, New York needs to capitalize.

Cuylle has come on strong for the Rangers playing on the top line with Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad at even-strength, so I’ll trust him to get me 1+ shot on goal after he registered 2+ in four straight games.

Hopefully, we can pull off the 3-0 sweep tonight.

Have a great day, everyone!