Baseball Handicapping Articles

MLB Betting and Handicapping: Scouting The Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 9/24/2012

Four of the six division races in baseball are all but over. The Reds already have clinched the National League Central and the Giants have done the same in the NL West. I expect the Nationals and Rangers to clinch the NL East and AL West, respectively, this week.

MLB Picks: Brewers at Nationals Series Odds and Betting Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 9/20/2012

It was extremely tough to pick which series to preview this weekend. Look at the schedule and you can see potential playoff implications (even if it’s for postseason seeding purposes) for at least one team in every series other than Marlins-Mets and Indians-Royals. That is the beauty of MLB adding that second wild-card spot and this is playing out exactly as Bud Selig had hoped. With just under two weeks left, only 12 of the 30 teams are essentially eliminated.

MLB Betting and Handicapping: Scouting The Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 9/17/2012

Do you think the Los Angeles Dodgers are regretting that big trade with Boston yet? L.A. essentially gave the Red Sox a lifeboat by taking on more than $250 million in guaranteed contracts in landing Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett with the expectation that Gonzalez and Beckett (Crawford is out for the season) would lead the team to the playoffs.

MLB Wild-Card Race: Predictions for Pretenders and Contenders
by T.O. Whenham - 9/14/2012

We’re in the MLB home stretch now. There are 20 or fewer games left for teams in baseball, and the fight is on for playoff berths. Now that an extra wild card spot has been added in each league there are more spaces available, and therefore there’s more competitive fight for extra life than ever.

MLB Picks: Orioles at A’s Series Odds and Betting Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 9/13/2012

With all due respect to the Washington Nationals, the two biggest positive surprises in Major League Baseball this season have to be the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland A’s. Both teams, projected to finish at or near the bottom of their respective divisions, would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. The Birds and Vowels start a huge three-game series Friday night in Oakland that could help determine not only one or both AL wild-card spots but also the AL East and even the AL West title.

MLB Betting and Handicapping: Scouting The Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 9/10/2012

There were three key injuries in MLB last week that seem likely to affect the American League playoff chase – and one of them unfortunately will probably cost me on the 2012 MLB home-run king prop. Let’s start in New York with Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira. The Yanks should be feeling somewhat good today after routing Baltimore 13-3 on Sunday to take a one-game lead over the Birds in the AL East.

MLB Odds and Predictions: Tigers at Angels Series Picks
by Alan Matthews - 9/6/2012

It was tough picking which series to preview this weekend – sure, I could preview some mismatch every weekend and give you the winner, but what fun is that? The Yankees-Orioles series is a huge one, but, unfortunately, that started on Thursday. And I generally steer clear of picking four-game series because you are only wagering on the first three. What if there’s a rainout? That could affect the pitching matchups.

MLB Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 9/3/2012

Was the American League Central race decided over the weekend? For oddsmakers, it sure seemed to be. The Chicago White Sox have led the division most of the season and were the favorites on Sportsbook.ag to win the Central entering Friday’s series opener in Detroit. But after suffering their second straight sweep at Comerica Park, the Sox and Tigers are now tied for the division lead entering Monday’s action and Detroit is now the -160 favorite on the site, with Chicago at +120.

MLB Handicapping: Aftermath of the Dodgers Big Trade
by T.O. Whenham - 8/31/2012

We’re not supposed to see big trades in August. Superstars have to get through waivers, so big deals are often very hard to be done. The Dodgers ignored that reality, though, when they blew the top off the baseball world with their deal with the Red Sox. Grabbing Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez or Carl Crawford would have been a big deal in and of itself. The fact that they grabbed all three, added Nick Punto as well, and didn’t really give up that much in return, is downright remarkable.

MLB Odds and Predictions: Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers
by Alan Matthews - 8/30/2012

It’s the biggest series of the year in the American League Central beginning Friday night at Comerica Park when the Detroit Tigers host the Chicago White Sox. As well as Oakland, Baltimore and Tampa Bay are playing – the first two being huge surprises – it’s quite possible that the runner-up in the Central between Detroit and Chicago misses the playoffs entirely.

MLB Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 8/27/2012

The big news in Major League Baseball last week was the absolutely shocking trade between Boston and the L.A. Dodgers that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett to the West Coast for essentially two top pitching prospects. It was the biggest salary dump in MLB history and it’s the Red Sox doing a reboot.

MLB Picks: Blue Jays at Orioles Series Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 8/23/2012

I haven’t done a series preview involving the Baltimore Orioles yet in 2012, but I suppose it’s time to take the Buck Showalter’s Birds seriously. The Orioles are currently five games behind the Yankees in the AL East and right in the thick of the AL wild-card race. We could see three teams from the East in the postseason, with the Yanks a near-lock and the Rays currently holding down one of the AL’s two wild-card spots.

Bartolo Colon Suspension Fallout and MLB Betting Advice
by Alan Matthews - 8/22/2012

What is it with Wednesdays and bad news for Dominican players on Major League Baseball’s two Bay Area clubs? Last Wednesday, the San Francisco Giants were submarined when all-star outfielder Melky Cabrera, the National League’s second-leading hitter and All-Star Game MVP, was suspended 50 games by MLB for his use of testosterone.

MLB Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 8/20/2012

When the Los Angeles Angels acquired pitcher Zack Greinke from the Milwaukee Brewers before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline it was hailed as a move that, at a minimum, assured the Halos would win one of the AL’s wild-card spots.

MLB Predictions: Giants at Padres Series Odds and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 8/16/2012

I’ll be honest here in that I am not previewing this weekend’s Giants-Padres three-game set at Petco Park because I think it’s a relevant series in the scheme of things. San Francisco is right in the hunt in the NL West and in the wild-card race, but the Padres are one of the National League’s worst teams. The Giants have no business losing a series like this.

MLB Divisional Props
by David Schwab - 8/15/2012

The MLB regular season has entered the stretch run and every division title still remains up for grabs. While four teams have a fairly comfortable five- or six-game lead heading into the final month and a half of games, there are two divisions that appear to be ended right down to the wire; the AL Central and the NL West.

MLB Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 8/13/2012

The Yankees still have a comfortable lead in the East, but the club may regret not trading for a starting pitcher ahead of the July 31 deadline. That’s because of the tender elbow of ace CC Sabathia. He was placed on the disabled list on Saturday due to discomfort in his pitching elbow.

MLB Predictions: A’s at White Sox Series Odds and Betting Picks
by Alan Matthews - 8/9/2012

I was apprehensive to do a White Sox series preview this week considering I am 0-for-2 on Chicago series in 2012 – I picked against the Pale Hose in both of their series with the Texas Rangers and Chicago took care of business in both. So let’s try again against another AL West contender, the Oakland A’s. This series could have definite wild-card implications.

Cincinnati Reds Handicapping and World Series Futures Odds
by T.O. Whenham - 8/9/2012

Cincinnati Reds odds to win the World Series are 10/1 on Bovada. That’s not bad — at least compared to the Nationals at 9/1 or the Angels at 8/1. Given that you could have gotten somewhere in the neighborhood of 45/1 at the start of the season, though, the steep drop is a clear sign of both how impressive and how surprising this team has been.

MLB Handicapping: Betting Studs and Duds
by T.O. Whenham - 8/8/2012

We’re heading into the home stretch of the baseball season. Teams have about 50 games remaining before the playoffs — or the golf season — starts. There is still plenty of time for lots to change between now and then, but teams have played enough games that we have a pretty good sense of which teams are rewarding bettors and which are punishing them. Here’s a look at the five studs that have been most profitable, and the five duds that have burned up the most betting dollars: