By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Set to kick off the second-half of the 2018 season on Friday — home against the San Diego Padres — the Philadelphia Phillies are situated well for a postseason run, assuming they maintain or improve upon their .558 baseball played to date.
At 53 wins and 42 loses, the club is bested by only the National League Central's Chicago Cubs (55-38) and Milwaukee Brewers (55-43) in the league's standings. As a result, Bovada has placed the Phillies at the third-best odds to come away with their eighth National League pennant in franchise history this fall, 6-to-1.
Bovada now has Phillies at 6/1 to win the NL, and 15/1 to win the 2018 World Series.
NL odds:
Dodgers: 3/1
Cubs: 7/2
Phillies: 6/1
Diamondbacks: 15/2
Braves: 8/1
Brewers: 8/1
Nationals: 9/1— Joe Giglio (@JoeGiglioSports) July 19, 2018
Manager Gabe Kapler's squad is only bested in odds by the Los Angeles Dodgers (3-to-1) — who recently put all their chips in when acquiring superstar Manny Machado — and the Cubs (7-to-2). In Bovada's latest-released World Series odds, the Phillies are placed at 15-to-1, tied with the Atlanta Braves for the third-best among National League teams, per The Athletic's Meghan Montemurro.
At the beginning of the season, the Phillies were placed at 20/1 odds to win the pennant, with an over-under win total of 75.5. The club is currently on pace to win 15 more games, 90, while approximately 52 percent — 35 of 67 — of the Phillies' remaining games will be played at Citizens Bank Park.
Clearly, Las Vegas is believing more and more in the Phillies, as should its fans.
