Baseball Handicapping Articles

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Saturday, June 4, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/3/2016

It's that time of year where you can expect teams to start calling up their top prospects because of service time reasons -- i.e., it's now late enough in the year where it will delay a player's arbitration years and thus give a team control over said player for one extra year. full year of service time equals 172 days on the big-league roster. The Washington Nationals have jumped in that pool by promoting their top position player prospect, shortstop Trea Turner.

MLB Betting Advice and Handicapping: Best and Worst Profit Starting Pitchers
by Victor Ryan - 6/2/2016

When handicapping a baseball game, the matchup of starting pitchers is typically the most critical factor when formulating a betting decision. Starting pitchers also have ebbs in flows in performance during a season. With that in mind, each month Doc's Sports will provide you with a look at the starting pitchers that have turned the biggest profit, those that have suffered the biggest losses, and whether those trends are likely to continue.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Friday, June 3, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/2/2016

We are just past June 1, but I found some interesting stats for the day that I want to share. You often hear how first-place teams on Memorial Day usually make the playoffs. Well, since the advent of the wild card in 1996, 69 of 120 division champions held their division lead on June 1 (58 percent). There were 34 of those from the American League and 35 from the National League. Only twice overall in each league, however, have all three division leaders on June 1 gone on to win their division that season.

Free MLB Picks for Best Props Odds: Thursday June 2, 2016
by Chris Vasile - 6/2/2016

It's only June 2 and I already feel like MLB is in the dog days of summer. The season feels like it has been going on forever already, when in reality most teams have played only around 50 games. The usual suspects are leading their respective divisions, and there weren't many interesting storylines surround May (except for the Toronto/Texas brawl).

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Thursday, June 2, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/1/2016

In December 2013, the Minnesota Twins signed pitcher Phil Hughes to a three-year, $24 million free-agent deal despite some inconsistent results from Hughes while he was with the Yankees. It looked like a brilliant move at first for Minnesota, which can't compete for the major free agents, as Hughes was 16-10 with a 3.52 ERA in 2014 and set the big-league record for the best strikeout-to-walk ratio by a starter at 11.625 per nine innings.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Wednesday, June 1, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/31/2016

I've written before that there may be no owner more loyal than the Chicago White Sox's Jerry Reinsdorf (that also goes for his Bulls franchise). But sometimes you have to make tough decisions on people you might have an affinity for, and it's starting to look like Reinsdorf might have to pull the plug on Manager Robin Ventura.

Free MLB Picks for Best Props Odds: Tuesday May 31, 2016
by Chris Vasile - 5/31/2016

When I last wrote, I was willing to bet that Jackie Bradley Jr. would extend his hitting streak to 30 games. And unfortunately for JBJ, he didn't fare too well. He was held hitless by Jon Gray and unfortunately I followed suit going 0-2 with my prop selections. I still sit with a record of 9-5 and feel very good about my plays tonight.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Tuesday, May 31, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/30/2016

I personally don't think pitchers should be able to win the AL or NL MVP Award because they have their own award, the Cy Young. It's not like hitters can win that. But there's little doubt that right now the Most Valuable Player in all of baseball is Dodgers ace left-hander Clayton Kershaw, a former MVP and three-time Cy Young winner.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Saturday, May 28, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/27/2016

Whether the Texas Rangers repeat as AL West champions or make the playoffs at all could somewhat depend on what happens Saturday against visiting Pittsburgh in interleague play. Not whether they win or lose but because it's the first MLB start in more than 18 months of ace right-hander Yu Darvish. He had Tommy John surgery on March 17, 2015.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Friday, May 27, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/26/2016

Wake me up when Boston outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. extends his hitting streak to 40 games, and then I'll get excited. He took a 29-game streak, pretty impressive no doubt, into Thursday's game. That was tied with Johnny Damon (2005) for the fourth-longest streak in team history. If Bradley's streak reaches 30, he'd be in a three-way tie for second place in franchise history with Nomar Garciaparra (1997) and Tris Speaker (1912).

Free MLB Picks for Best Props Odds: Thursday May 26, 2016
by Chris Vasile - 5/26/2016

Usually when you go 2-1 for any given night you make a little money. However, it's usually not enough to be satisfied with. That is unless you hit a massive +260 underdog on the first five-inning line and for the full game. That's exactly what I did Tuesday night when I accurately predicted Chris Sale was due for a dud performance. I am on a 9-3 run for May with my F5 prop selections, and I'm looking to keep it going tonight.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Thursday, May 26, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/25/2016

I must admit I take a bit of glee when bad things happen to New York teams or their star athletes. I don't mean injuries or arrests or anything but just big-time struggles. New Yorkers build their guys up like they are always better than anyone else. That brings me to Mets pitcher Matt Harvey, who used to be the toast of the town as the "Dark Knight" whenever he took the mound. It was an event. Now it's becoming rather clear that the Mets might have ruined Harvey last season by using him so much his first season after Tommy John surgery.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Wednesday, May 25, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/24/2016

It's not too often that I'll say a team missing a guy hitting .236 with five homers and 16 RBIs is a huge loss, but that's definitely the case for the Tampa Bay Rays and center fielder Kevin Kiermaier. He broke two bones attempting to make a diving catch on Saturday in Detroit and was to have surgery on Tuesday.

Expert MLB Betting Advice: Weekly Baseball Bullpen Report
by Victor Ryan - 5/24/2016

This week's look at MLB's hottest and coldest bullpens has an interesting twist. The "hot list" for the past week is dominated by American League clubs, while the "cold list" has a decided senior circuit flavor. As is usually the case, these performances had a strong correlation to wins and losses.

Expert MLB Betting Advice: Best Underdog Run Line Teams
by George Monroy - 5/24/2016

The Major League Baseball season is nearly a fourth of the way complete, and many of the year's biggest storylines have already taken shape. The Chicago Cubs are flirting with greatness-they have a +109 run differential and are on pace to produce 110 wins on the year-while pitchers like Jake Arrieta, Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale continue dominate and to flirt with history on a nightly basis.

Free MLB Picks for Best Props Odds: Tuesday May 24, 2016
by Chris Vasile - 5/24/2016

Tuesday's MLB card features all 30 teams in action, including a matinee game at Marlins Park between the visiting Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins. Full slates come with a plethora of betting options for gamblers. At first glance, I was drawn to five games that deserved further research. After putting in my due diligence I have settled on what I feel are the three best prop bets on the board.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Tuesday, May 24, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/23/2016

Here's something I'm guessing you didn't know. For the first time in the live-ball era, two players at least age 40 went 4-for-4 on back-to-back days over the weekend. In this case, it was future Hall of Famers Ichiro Suzuki and David Ortiz. The only other time two guys at least age 40 even went 4-for-4 in a the same month was July 1993 when current Hall of Famers Dave Winfield and George Brett did so. Both Ichiro and Big Papi are having great seasons.

MLB Betting Trends: Hot and Cold Baseball Wagers
by Victor Ryan - 5/23/2016

The 162-game marathon that is the MLB season has reached the quarter-pole as all 30 clubs had played a minimum of 41 games after Sunday's action. Through the first seven weeks of the campaign, the surprising Phillies have posted a league-high profit of 11.1 units. They are followed by the Rangers (+10.7), Orioles (+9.6) and White Sox (-8.0).

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Saturday, May 21, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/20/2016

Apparently the Yankees' Joe Girardi won't be the next manager fired in the majors. Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner had his state of the team address this week and he didn't put any blame on Girardi for his team's slow start. Ditto on GM Brian Cashman. Instead, Steinbrenner singled out Mark Teixeira, Chase Headley, Michael Pineda and Luis Severino for criticism. And those guys have been pretty lousy.

MLB Betting Trends: Hot and Cold Over and Under Teams for Baseball Wagering
by Aaron Smith - 5/20/2016

The Chicago Cubs still have the best record in baseball. They are coming off a disappointing series in Milwaukee, and I'm interested to see how the Cubs fare this weekend in San Francisco. The Giants are the hottest team in baseball. San Francisco has won eight straight games. The Giants just went on a 7-0 road trip against NL West foes. The Cubs have the pitching matchup advantages in the first couple games of the series. Can the Cubs stop the Giants momentum? This is the series to watch this weekend.