The Philadelphia Phillies finished an even 81-81 and in fourth place in the five-team National League East in 2019 — far below expectations after signing Bryce Harper to a record-breaking free-agent deal.

But Harper and the Phillies are back and they should again be in the mix in a loaded divisional race.

Bookies.com reveals four MLB futures best bets for the Philadelphia Phillies’ 2020 MLB season.

Bryce Harper — MVP (+1800)

The Phillies signed Harper to a 13-year, $330 million deal prior to the 2019 season. Not only did the signing not translate to victories, Harper’s former team, the Nationals, won the World Series.

But we can’t blame Harper for the Phillies’ issues. He had the second-most home runs of his eight-year career (35) and the most RBIs (114) he’s ever had. His .260 was low for him, but the other stats aren’t far off from what we can expect from an NL MVP contender.

Harper has not been consistent over his great career. In the four seasons he’s played at least 140 games, he’s hit anywhere from 13 to 42 home runs, had between 86-114 RBI and hit anywhere from .243 to .330. His supporting cast will be real solid in Philly, so he should see opportunities. If he turns fly-ball outs into homers, he’s right there for the MVP. Take Harper for MVP at 888sport .

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Rhys Hoskins — Home Run Leader (+5000)

On the surface, Hoskins’ stats don’t look like a true home run champion threat. But look closer.

In 2017, Hoskins hit 18 homers as a rookie in just 50 games, the most HRs by any player called up after Aug. 1 — in MLB history. In 2018, he hit 34 home runs but had a lot of swings and misses, 150 of them. Last season, he hit 29, but walked an NL-most 116 times. He batted a disappointing .226, but his on-base percentage was a solid .364.

More than half of Hoskins’ hit pitches were fly balls (50.4%); nobody hits more of them than Hoskins. Each year he’s seeing the ball better. He’s not far off from jacking 40 or more home runs. A season cut in half might be a blessing for Hoskins. He doesn’t need to be great for 162 games. We’re getting great MLB betting odds on a legit darkhorse. Take Hoskins to win the HR title at Unibet .

Aaron Nola — Most Strikeouts (+2500)

Nola has averaged more strikeouts than innings pitched in each of his four complete seasons in the majors. And he takes the ball every five days — the last two seasons, he’s had 67 starts.

He’ll need that health if he’s going to keep up with the Gerrit Coles and Justin Verlanders of the world. Each of the last two seasons, Nola has accumulated 224 and 229 punchouts. Cole led MLB last year with a wild 326 Ks, Verlander had 300.

But nobody else in MLB had 260. Cole is heading to the American League, which presumably will be tougher, and age will presumably catch up with Verlander at some point (he’s 37). Those two come back down to earth, Nola has a breakout 2020 season, and he’ll be in the mix. Take Nola at these odds at DraftKings .

Phillies Winning Percentage — Under 52.5% (-110)

The Phillies won just 50% of their games last year, an obvious disappointment considering how aggressive the team was in building a win-now roster.

This year’s Phillies team should be stronger and it should contend for a playoff berth. The problem is, so should most of the rest of the NL East. The Nationals are the defending World Series champions, the Braves were better than the Nats last year to win the division and the Mets went 86-76 last year and are on the upswing, too.

If the NL East is paired with the AL East as expected for this shortened 2020 season, that doesn’t make things any easier. It’s possible no team breaks out big from this division. Take the Under at FanDuel.