Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Odds 2025: BetMGM’s Most Popular MLB Pick

Elvis Blane

Crypto Casino

March 26, 2026

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BetMGM has confirmed that the Pittsburgh Pirates are attracting more playoff futures bets than any other MLB team heading into the 2025 season, with +220 odds to reach the postseason marking a dramatic shift in public confidence for a franchise that has not posted a winning record since 2018. The surge in betting interest centers heavily on 22-year-old ace Paul Skenes, who carries +220 odds to win a second consecutive NL Cy Young Award. For a team that finished below .500 in six straight seasons, the public attention is striking.

Pittsburgh Pirates Lead All BetMGM Playoff Futures Bets in 2025

Why Bettors Are Backing a Sub-.500 Franchise

The Pittsburgh Pirates have not finished with a winning record since going 82-79 in 2018. Yet according to BetMGM sportsbook data reported by Covers.com, the Pirates are the most bet team to make the 2026 MLB postseason field, outpacing franchises with far stronger recent track records.[1] That disconnect between on-field history and betting market behavior tells a specific story: bettors are pricing in potential, not past performance.

The Pirates’ +220 playoff odds are the most favorable the market has assigned Pittsburgh since the 2017 season, when the club was still considered a legitimate NL contender.[1] At +220, a $100 wager returns $220 in profit if Pittsburgh qualifies. That number reflects both genuine optimism about the roster and the expanded 12-team MLB playoff format, which gives more clubs a realistic path to October.

The expanded playoff format, introduced permanently in 2022, means six National League teams now qualify each year, compared to five under the previous structure. That structural change alone makes +220 a more credible number for a team on the rise. The Pirates’ NL Central division odds are also drawing heavy action, with BetMGM reporting Pittsburgh as the most bet team to win that division.[1]

The NL Central Race and Pittsburgh’s Position

The NL Central enters 2025 without a clear dominant force. The Milwaukee Brewers won the division in 2023, the Chicago Cubs have invested in their roster, and the Cincinnati Reds showed flashes of competitiveness in recent seasons. Pittsburgh sits in a division where +220 playoff odds are plausible rather than aspirational, particularly given the team’s young core built around Skenes and outfielder Oneil Cruz.

Gambling911.com noted that the volume of NL Central futures bets on Pittsburgh specifically outpaced divisional rivals, suggesting bettors see the Pirates as the value play in a wide-open race rather than simply a sentimental choice.[2] Public betting volume does not always predict outcomes, but it does signal where the market perceives upside relative to the listed price.

The Pirates finished 76-86 in 2024, their sixth consecutive losing season. General manager Ben Cherington has emphasized player development over free-agent spending, and that approach is now producing results visible enough to move betting markets before a single regular-season pitch is thrown.

Paul Skenes at +220: The Cy Young Case That Is Driving Pittsburgh’s Market Value

Skenes Won the 2024 NL Cy Young as a Rookie

Paul Skenes became the first pitcher since Dwight Gooden in 1985 to win the NL Cy Young Award in his rookie season, taking the 2024 award after posting a 1.96 ERA across 23 starts.[1] He was the first overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, selected by Pittsburgh out of LSU, and he reached the majors in May 2024 after fewer than 50 minor league innings. The speed of his ascent was exceptional even by top-prospect standards.

At +220 to win a second consecutive Cy Young, Skenes enters 2025 as the co-favorite or outright favorite depending on the book, competing against names like Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies and Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves.[1] A second Cy Young at age 22 would make Skenes one of the most decorated young pitchers in modern baseball history. The betting market clearly believes a full season of Skenes is worth pricing aggressively.

How Skenes Moves the Entire Pittsburgh Futures Market

Skenes is not just a Cy Young candidate in isolation. His presence at the top of Pittsburgh’s rotation directly influences every other futures market tied to the Pirates. A healthy Skenes pitching 30-plus starts projects as a 4-to-6 win contribution above replacement, which is the difference between a 76-win team and a genuine wild card contender in a weak division.

Bettors understand this leverage. When a single player can shift a team’s win projection by 5 or 6 games, backing that team’s playoff odds at +220 becomes a proxy bet on that player staying healthy and effective. The Pirates’ futures volume at BetMGM is, in large part, a Skenes confidence vote expressed through a team-level market.[2]

Skenes threw 133 innings in 2024 across the regular season and postseason. Managing his workload in 2025 will be a key variable. Pittsburgh pitching coach Oscar Marin has indicated the team plans to stretch Skenes toward 180 innings, a number that would represent a significant but manageable increase for a 22-year-old with his physical profile.

Pittsburgh Pirates Odds in Historical Context: 2017 to 2025

The table above illustrates just how long Pittsburgh has been absent from October baseball. The Pirates last appeared in the postseason in 2015, when they lost the NL Wild Card Game to the Chicago Cubs. Since that loss, the franchise has cycled through a full rebuild, and the current roster represents the first genuine product of that process.[1]

The last time Pittsburgh’s playoff odds were this favorable, in 2017, the team finished 75-87 and missed the postseason by a wide margin. That context matters for bettors evaluating whether current public enthusiasm reflects real roster improvement or simply the halo effect of one elite pitcher. The key difference between 2017 and 2025 is that Pittsburgh now has a generational talent in Skenes rather than an aging core past its peak.

BetMGM’s reporting of Pittsburgh as the most bet playoff team is a volume metric, not a sharp-money indicator. Recreational bettors often gravitate toward compelling narratives: a young ace, a long-suffering fanbase, and favorable division odds. Sharp bettors tend to fade public teams at inflated prices. Whether +220 represents value or a public trap depends heavily on how Skenes performs across a full 162-game schedule.[2]

The MLB futures market has grown significantly since the Supreme Court’s 2018 Murphy v. NCAA decision opened sports betting to individual states. Legal sportsbooks now operate in more than 30 U.S. states, and futures handle on MLB has increased year over year since 2019. Pittsburgh’s position as the top bet team at a major operator like BetMGM reflects both the team’s narrative appeal and the sheer volume of casual bettors now participating in legal markets.[1]

Betting on MLB Futures With Monero: What Privacy-Focused Bettors Should Know

For bettors who prefer to keep their sports wagering activity private, MLB futures markets like the Pittsburgh playoff bet are increasingly available at crypto-native and Monero-accepting sportsbooks. Unlike traditional operators such as BetMGM, which require identity verification tied to bank accounts and state licensing databases, Monero-based platforms allow bettors to fund accounts and withdraw winnings without exposing personal financial data to third parties. That distinction matters for anyone placing long-horizon futures bets that may sit open for six or more months.

Monero’s ring signature protocol and stealth address system make it the most privacy-preserving cryptocurrency available for gambling transactions, a meaningful advantage over Bitcoin or Ethereum, which record all transactions on publicly auditable blockchains. A bettor who places a +220 Pirates playoff future in April and cashes it in October generates a transaction trail on a Bitcoin-based book that is permanently visible on-chain. The same bet settled in Monero leaves no such record.[2]

The practical implication for MLB futures bettors is straightforward: if you want to act on Pittsburgh’s current odds without creating a financial paper trail, Monero-accepting sportsbooks offer a structurally different product than licensed U.S. operators. Always verify the legal status of online gambling in your jurisdiction before placing any wager.

Key Takeaways

• BetMGM reports the Pittsburgh Pirates as the most bet team to reach the 2025 MLB postseason, leading all 30 franchises in playoff futures volume.[1]
• Pittsburgh’s +220 playoff odds are the best the market has assigned the Pirates since the 2017 season.[1]
• The Pirates have not posted a winning record since going 82-79 in 2018, making their current market position a significant departure from recent history.
• Paul Skenes, 22, carries +220 odds to win his second consecutive NL Cy Young Award after posting a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts during his 2024 rookie season.[1]
• Bettors selected Pittsburgh as the most popular pick to win the NL Central division, ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, and Cincinnati Reds.[2]
• The expanded 12-team MLB playoff format, permanent since 2022, gives Pittsburgh a more realistic path to October than existed under the previous 10-team structure.
• Legal sports betting now operates in more than 30 U.S. states following the 2018 Supreme Court ruling in Murphy v. NCAA, dramatically increasing futures handle on MLB markets.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

The Pittsburgh Pirates entering 2025 as BetMGM’s most popular playoff futures pick is a genuine market signal, not a statistical anomaly. The combination of Paul Skenes at the top of the rotation, a winnable NL Central division, and the expanded playoff format creates a legitimate case for Pittsburgh’s first postseason appearance since 2015. The +220 price reflects that case without being so short that the value has evaporated.

The risk is real and measurable. Pittsburgh has finished 76-86 in back-to-back seasons, and futures markets built on a single player’s health carry inherent fragility. If Skenes misses time with an injury, the entire thesis collapses. Bettors backing Pittsburgh at +220 are making a concentrated bet on one 22-year-old arm staying healthy for 30 starts, which is a specific and knowable risk factor to weigh before committing.[1][2]

What makes this story worth watching beyond the odds is what it signals about the Pirates organization. Six years of losing has not erased Pittsburgh’s fanbase or its market presence. One elite pitcher changed the entire narrative in a single season. If Skenes delivers 180 innings in 2025, the Pirates will not just be the most popular bet to reach the playoffs. They will be a legitimate contender.

Sources

1. [1]: Covers.com – BetMGM data on Pittsburgh Pirates playoff futures volume, +220 odds, and Paul Skenes Cy Young market for 2025 MLB season.
2. [2]: Gambling911.com – Reporting on Pittsburgh Pirates NL Central division futures betting volume and market positioning heading into 2025.