Baseball Handicapping Articles

MLB Betting Advice and Handicapping: Totals Trends Report
by Aaron Smith - 5/6/2015

We're now a month into the Major League Baseball season. We still have more than five months left, so remember this is a really long grind. The Houston Astros have been the biggest surprise of the season thus far. They are an improved team, but time will tell if they are really the best team in the AL West. It's no big surprise that the St. Louis Cardinals have the best record in baseball at this stage.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Wednesday, May 6, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/5/2015

Kudos to the Tampa Bay Rays, who are hanging around the top of the AL East despite losing Manager Joe Maddon and GM Andrew Friedman this past offseason. I didn't think they would go into a total spiral to the AL East basement because they had some great young pitching. However, the team got some bad news Monday when perhaps the best of those pitchers, righty Alex Cobb, was shut down from throwing as he worked to make his season debut off a forearm injury.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Tuesday, May 5, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/4/2015

We have our first managerial firing in MLB this season, and to no surprise it was Milwaukee's Ron Roenicke. Once the Marlins fixed themselves it made him the clear favorite to go first. The team has replaced him on a full-time basis by former big-league player Craig Counsell, who has no managerial experience at any level. So that begs the question of who might be next. I would put the White Sox's Robin Ventura at the top of the list, but I know owner Jerry Reinsdorf loves the guy from his playing days with the Pale Hose.

MLB Series Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 5/4/2015

The new MLB regular season has turned the page to the month of May, and there are a whole new set of series getting underway this Monday night. I would have to say that the majority of bettors prefer to spend their efforts looking for solid plays for the individual games. However, often times you can some solid value in betting on the odds that many sportsbooks will release for a three-game series price in a particular matchup.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Saturday, May 2, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/1/2015

So Friday was the first day of May. What relevance does leading your division at the end of play on May 1 have? Last year your leaders were: NY Yankees, Detroit, Oakland, Atlanta, Milwaukee and San Francisco. I think our answer is nothing. Only the Tigers of that group won the division. The A's and Giants were wild-card teams. The Braves finished below .500. Also if you are wondering, no teams in last place on May 1, 2014, made the playoffs. Only Cleveland among that group finished with a better than .500 record.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Friday, May 1, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Dave Schwab - 4/30/2015

It has been a scary few days in baseball. On Tuesday, stellar Diamondbacks rookie pitcher Archie Bradley was hit in the face by a line drive off the bat of Colorado's Carlos Gonzalez. It looked terrible, but Bradley suffered only a small sinus fracture and the team placed him on the DL. He may just miss those 15 days.

MLB Series Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 4/30/2015

There are a number of extended four-game series kicking things off this Thursday as we close things out in the first month of the new MLB regular season. While most bettors prefer to spend their effort handicapping the individual games, oftentimes there is some solid value in betting on the odds that Bovada releases for the series price in these matchups.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Thursday, April 30, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 4/29/2015

Sometimes one win can turn a struggling team's season around. For that I give you the Washington Nationals, who were supposed to be a 100-win behemoth but are well below .500. On Tuesday in Atlanta, the Nats trailed by eight runs at one point but won on former Brave Dan Uggla's three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning.

Tracking the Nationals: MLB Picks and Handicapping for Washington Baseball
by Dave Schwab - 4/29/2015

I will be exclusively handicapping the Washington Nationals all season long in an effort to demonstrate that specialization on a single team when it comes to wagering on MLB games can be a viable betting strategy. To further prove the point, I will also be releasing weekly picks for their games with the use of Doc’s Sports Unit Betting System. My goal for the season is to return a solid profit on these unit plays.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Wednesday, April 29, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 4/28/2015

Many key injuries happened over the weekend, including NL contenders the St. Louis Cardinals and L.A. Dodgers losing starting pitchers Adam Wainwright and Brandon McCarthy, respectively, for the season. That's especially big for the Cardinals, while I could see the deep-pocketed Dodgers going to get someone like the Reds' Johnny Cueto, a pending free agent, later this summer. The Cards generally don't make that type of move, but they certainly have a deep farm system as well to go get someone. That Wainwright injury really helps the Cubs and Pirates especially in the NL Central.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Saturday, April 25, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 4/24/2015

I know several Detroit Tigers fans. You will rarely hear cheers from a fan base when it is learned that their team's closer has been lost to a season-ending injury. Yet that's what every Tigers fan I know is thinking with the news that Joe Nathan suffered a torn UCL and tendon in his pitching elbow while on a minor-league rehab assignment and will need Tommy John surgery. I'm presuming that's it for the former All-Star considering he's going to be 41 in November and in the last year of his contract (he says he wants to pitch again).

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Friday, April 24, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 4/23/2015

A couple of days ago, I wrote in this space how Marlins manager Mike Redmond was already on the hot seat. Hey sportsbooks, how about posting this prop: Who is fired first, Redmond or Milwaukee's Ron Roenicke? The latter may have moved to the front of the line as the Brewers dropped their eighth straight on Wednesday. Owner Mark Attanasio reportedly has flown from his home in Los Angeles to Milwaukee to speak with the front office higher-ups to determine what should be done with this team -- remember, the Brewers collapsed at the end of last season as well. Roenicke might not make it through the weekend.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Thursday, April 23, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 4/22/2015

I'm not ready to say the young Chicago Cubs can win the NL Central this season as I'd still give the edge to St. Louis. However, these Cubs won't quit. They won a wild game on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh with a ninth-inning rally to improve to 2-5 this season when trailing entering the ninth. That might not sound like much, but last year the Cubs were 0-79 in that scenario. A lot of matinee getaway games on Thursday afternoon, so keep in mind that some key players could get the day off or only be used as a pinch-hitter.

Tracking the Nationals: MLB Picks and Handicapping for Washington Baseball
by Dave Schwab - 4/22/2015

For the second season in a row, I will be exclusively handicapping the Washington Nationals in an effort to demonstrate that specialization on a single team when it comes to wagering on MLB games can be a viable betting strategy. Doc’s Sports has asked me to put this theory to the test by releasing free weekly picks for Nationals’ games with the use of its Unit Betting System. The goal for the season is to return a solid profit on these unit plays.

MLB Betting Advice and Handicapping: Totals Trends Report
by Aaron Smith - 4/22/2015

The Major League Baseball season is a little more than two weeks old. Bettors need to remember how long this season is because as nice as some of these surprises are so far this year, there is still plenty of time for things to change. The Washington Nationals are far better than a .500 team, and that will show in time. While the Mets are certainly an improved team, they aren't going to keep winning games at the rate they have thus far.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 4/21/2015

It's not too often that you see a manager fired in April, but there have been rumblings out of south Florida that Miami's Mike Redmond is very much on the hot seat. Owner Jeffrey Loria isn't exactly the most patient man; he spent a lot of money on the team this offseason and it has started just 3-10. In fact, the Marlins already have reportedly targeted a potential replacement: Mets Triple-A affiliate manager Wally Backman, who has interviewed for a handful of big-league jobs in recent years. If the Marlins lose a few more in a row, Redmond gets the boot.

MLB Series Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 4/21/2015

There are a number of new MLB series starting up this Tuesday night, and along with betting the individual games there is often time some solid value in betting on the odds that Bovada releases for the series price as well. After digging deep into all the matchups that get underway with Game 1 on Tuesday’s slate, I have narrowed things down to my three “best bets” for these series price moneyline odds.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Tuesday, April 21, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 4/20/2015

The Cubs' Kris Bryant stole all the headlines in Chicago and around baseball over the weekend as he made his much-anticipated big-league debut against the Padres. There's a pretty good prospect on the South Side of the Windy City as well. That's pitcher Carlos Rodon, the No. 3 overall pick out of last year's draft from N.C. State. He has been recalled from Triple-A Charlotte and will start his career in the bullpen, but that won't last very long. He'll move into the rotation pretty quickly, probably to take the spot of No. 5 guy Hector Noesi.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Friday, April 17, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 4/16/2015

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost consecutive starts by three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw just twice last season and won 20 of the final 21 times he took the mound in the regular season. However, he was knocked around a bit by the Cardinals in the NLDS and suffered two losses. Is there a postseason hangover? Have teams figured him out? Or nothing to worry about yet?

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Thursday, April 16, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 4/15/2015

By the time you read this story, there may be word on the severity of the hamstring injury suffered by Mets star third baseman -- I wouldn't call him a star any longer but just a good player if you simply look at his recent numbers -- David Wright. He injured himself stealing second base in the eighth inning against the Phillies on Tuesday, and even Manager Terry Collins deemed it likely "major." So obviously Wright will not play Thursday, and I'm sure will miss at least a few weeks on the disabled list.