Baseball Handicapping Articles

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Wednesday, July 2, 2014 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 7/1/2014

At Sportsbook.ag, the Oakland Athletics (+160) and Detroit Tigers (+300) are the two American League pennant favorites. Of course, they have met in each of the past two ALDS, with the Tigers winning each series in Game 5. Wednesday's matchup will be the last time they play in 2014 unless there's a postseason rematch. Here's a look at that matchup and four other interesting games.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Friday, June 27, 2014 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/27/2014

So here's an interesting prop idea for the sportsbooks: From which division will the next no-hitter in baseball come? There have been three this season and all from the NL West: two for the Dodgers (Josh Beckett and Clayton Kershaw) and then on Wednesday night San Francisco's Tim Lincecum threw his second career no-no, both against San Diego. Alas, no NL West aces are pitching Friday, so don't look for No. 4. Here's a look at five interesting games on the schedule.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Thursday, June 26, 2014 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/26/2014

The last time the St. Louis Cardinals saw the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cards roughed up L.A. ace Clayton Kershaw in Game 6 of the 2013 National League Championship Series to advance to the World Series. The Cards open a four-game set in Los Angeles on Thursday night in the series of the weekend. It's certainly possible the two face off in the postseason again this fall. The Dodgers are +350 second-favorites (to San Francisco) at Sportsbook.ag to win the NL pennant, and St. Louis is right behind at +500.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/25/2014

The chances of the St. Louis Cardinals winning the NL Central again this season took a major hit when the team put starting pitchers Michael Wacha and Jaime Garcia on the disabled list Sunday. Wacha is the big blow as he's one of the top young pitchers in baseball and was terrific in last year's playoffs.

Tracking the Nationals: Season-Long MLB Picks and Handicapping for Washington Baseball
by Dave Schwab - 6/25/2014

Doc’s Sports has been releasing free MLB picks each week for the Washington Nationals during this MLB regular season with the use of specialization as the primary betting strategy for the games. I have made it my job to exclusively handicap a few Nationals’ games each week to develop a high level of familiarity with the team. My goal is to use this familiarity of Washington’s trends and tendencies to earn a long-term profit with these free MLB picks.

Sports Betting Insights: MLB Totals Betting Trends
by Dave Schwab - 6/24/2014

When the summer rolls around and Major League Baseball becomes a big part of the pie as far as wagering on sports, it is important that you are taking advantage of all the opportunities the sportsbooks provide to cash in on the games.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/24/2014

If you follow these stories at all during the season, you know I am obligated to talk about a pitcher in his first start following a no-hitter and whether we will ever see consecutive no-nos again to match the amazing feat of Cincinnati's Johnny Vander Meer in June 1938. How good was Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw in his no-hitter of Colorado last Wednesday? The two-time Cy Young winner was the first player in baseball history with 15 strikeouts and without allowing either a hit or walk. He goes against the Royals on Tuesday. Here's a look at that game and four others.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Thursday, June 19, 2014 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/19/2014

One of the best pitching prospects in baseball -- and considered the top lefty prospect in the minors -- will make his big-league debut on Thursday. That would be the Marlins' Andrew Heaney, the team's first-round pick in the 2012 draft. Could Heaney have an effect on Miami the way rookie Wil Myers did last season with the Tampa Bay Rays? Myers also debuted nearly a year to the day and was key in leading Tampa to the playoffs. It's obviously a bit easier for a position player to do so. Here's a look at Thursday's Marlins matchup and four others.

Sports Betting Insights: MLB Trends That Matter
by Dave Schwab - 6/19/2014

Anyone who wagers on sports on a regular basis understands the importance of recent betting trends when it comes to handicapping future results, especially if you subscribe to the statement that “history tends to repeat itself”. When it comes to wagering on MLB games, this concept takes on a meaning of its own.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Wednesday, June 18, 2014 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/18/2014

Expect a moving tribute to the late Tony Gwynn on Wednesday night after the greatest San Diego Padre in history and first-ballot Hall of Famer passed away on Monday. The Padres play their first home game since then on Wednesday against Seattle. Gwynn never played at Petco Park, however. The Mariners completed a two-game sweep of this home-and home series on Tuesday. Here's a look at Wednesday's matchup and four others.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Tuesday, June 17, 2014 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/17/2014

Rest in peace Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. The greatest contact hitter I ever saw and Mr. Padre passed away at the way-too-young age of 54 on Monday from a battle with salivary gland cancer. He caught the disease because he often used chewing tobacco, so hopefully that's a lesson to others. Gwynn won eight NL batting titles, and I really thought he would hit .400 in 1994. He may have had the players not cut the season short due to a strike. It's still the highest single-season average since Ted Williams batted .406 in 1941.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Saturday June 14, 2014 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/13/2014

Apparently you can already crown the San Francisco Giants as NL West champions, and they are the big -600 favorites on Sportsbook.ag. Interesting stat from ESPN: One of their statisticians compiled the standings from every season in the divisional era on June 13. A total of 27 teams had a division lead of six games or greater, and of those 27 teams only three ended up losing that lead. The Giants are up 8.5 games as of Friday the 13th.

Tracking the Nationals: Season-Long MLB Picks and Handicapping for Washington Baseball
by Dave Schwab - 6/13/2014

Once the dog days of summer start to roll around, MLB games will make up the majority of the action on the betting boards, so this is the perfect time of the year to hone your baseball handicapping skills. Doc’s Sports has decided to release free MLB picks each week for the Washington Nationals during the entire MLB regular season to validate the betting strategy of specialization.

MLB Betting Advice: Hot and Cold Teams for Runline Wagering
by Ricky Dimon - 6/13/2014

Raise your hand if you had the Tampa Bay Rays as the worst team in Major League Baseball more than two months into the season…. Nobody? Well, they are—with a few games to spare in the standings and a whole lot of room between them and the club with the second worst runline record, San Diego. At the other end of the spectrum, Seattle and the New York Mets are scorching hot.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Thursday June 12, 2014 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/11/2014

Sometimes a team gets bitten in the “you know what” when it signs a very young player to a long-term extension to buy out a few of that player's free-agent years. Sometimes, however, it works out incredibly well for the team. It did for the White Sox and Chris Sale. He could potentially earn $57.5 million over a seven-year extension he signed in 2013. That's insanely good value for the guy who might be the best pitcher in the AL.

2014 World Series Matchup Odds with Picks and Predictions
by George Monroy - 6/11/2014

The Major League Baseball season is more than a third of the way into the schedule, and the possible playoff and World Series matchups are starting to become clear. San Francisco is making a statement in the National League, while Oakland, Detroit and Toronto have risen to the top of the American League. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who are sitting on baseball’s biggest payroll, have already built a big division deficit in the NL West and may have to settle for a wild card spot come playoff time.

MLB Totals Betting Trends Report
by Aaron Smith - 6/10/2014

We’re now a little more than a third of the way through the Major League Baseball regular season. On the whole, the “over” continues to outpace the “under” slightly. The over has cashed in 460 times compared to 437 for the under. Over the course of the season, there are likely to be a bunch of fluctuations in this number. The key is trying to find teams who trending in one direction and cashing in before the books can catch up.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Wednesday, June 11, 2014 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/10/2014

I think we are at the point technologically in this world that every stadium built from this point on should have a retractable roof. There's just no reason there should be rainouts these days unless it's in Boston or the North Side of Chicago in a 100-year-old-plus ballpark back before they could dream of retractable roofs. The Yankees were rained out Monday night in Kansas City, so they pushed back Masahiro Tanaka's start on Tuesday in Seattle to Wednesday.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Tuesday, June 10, 2014 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/9/2014

I don't pretend to know the TV watching habits of people in Japan, but I'm guessing that Tuesday night's New Yankees-Seattle Mariners game will be one of the highest-rated Major League Baseball games ever in that country with two excellent pitchers from Japan facing off. Here's a look at that matchup and four other interesting games on Tuesday.

Five to Follow MLB Betting: Saturday June 7, 2014 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/6/2014

Something is likely to happen this weekend that could boost a team's playoff hopes: the signing of free-agent first baseman/DH Kendrys Morales. He has been sitting at home after turning down Seattle's $14.1 million qualifying offer after last season. How does his agent still have a job? Now that the MLB draft is finished, Morales can sign with anyone and that team wouldn't have to forfeit a 2015 draft pick. The top contenders for Morales: Yankees, Brewers, Royals and, yes, Mariners.