Oddmakers in Las Vegas are expecting Houston Astros hitters to be targeted often this season.

Sportsbook William Hill has set the over/under on number of Astros batters to get plunked this season at 83.5.

In the past five seasons, only nine teams have been hit by pitches more than 83.5 times. However, the expectation is that teams will retaliate coming off Houston's sign-stealing scandal.

Enough opposing players and managers have expressed their displeasure with the Astros that new manager Dusty Baker has publicly urged Major League Baseball to protect Astros hitters from intentionally being beaned.

"I'm depending on the league to try to put a stop to this seemingly premeditated retaliation that I'm hearing about," Baker said. "And in most instances in life, you get kind of reprimanded when you have premeditated anything. I'm just hoping that the league puts a stop to this before somebody gets hurt."