Baseball Handicapping Articles

Rangers at Cardinals Picks and MLB Series Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 6/21/2013

The allure of American League vs. National League baseball action may be gone now that these matchups have been integrated into the general schedule. But that doesn’t mean that baseball fans are still treated to the occasional intriguing interleague matchup.

ATS Report Card: Taking a Closer Look at the St Louis Cardinals
by George Monroy - 6/19/2013

The St Louis Cardinals are tearing up the National League and are currently sitting on the best record in all of baseball. The team is second in runs, second in batting average and third overall in on-base percentage. It seems the Cardinals are doing just fine without a big-name slugger or a big-name manager.

MLB Handicapping: Can Toronto Blue Jays Overcome Horrid Start?
by Trevor Whenham - 6/19/2013

It’s not that often that you spend much time talking about a team a couple of games below .500 in late June. It’s not often, though, that the preseason favorite to win the World Series is not only a couple of games below .500 but has had to work very hard to get there.

MLB Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 6/17/2013

It's that time of year: Star prospects can now be called up where it's passed their Super 2 arbitration rights deadline. I'm not going to go into what that all entails, but it essentially means that these young players' arbitration/free-agent clocks are now delayed as long as possible. Thus, those small-market teams can call guys up now and save potentially millions of dollars in salary down the line.

MLB Handicapping Hot/Cold Pitchers and Hitters Betting Report
by Ricky Dimon - 6/17/2013

A hitter’s stroke can turn on a dime, and it has done just that for guys like Adam Dunn and Domonic Brown. They are continuing to go in different directions, but now it’s Dunn who is finding his range whereas Brown can hardly find the basepaths. A pitcher’s arm can also blow hot and cold. Corey Kluber has begun to throw darts for Cleveland, while Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore is suddenly doing a lot less on the mound.

Diamondbacks at Padres Picks and MLB Series Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 6/14/2013

While there is a lot of mainstream media attention being thrown on the best division in baseball, the American League East, a lot of baseball bettors might want to turn their attention to what looks like it could end up being the most competitive divisional race out in the National League West.

MLB Betting and Handicapping: Totals Trends Report
by Aaron Smith - 6/11/2013

Oddsmakers are very good at their job, which is precisely why bettors must work hard to stay ahead of the game. The “over” was hitting at almost 54 percent for the first few weeks of the season, but it has slipped to less than 52 percent for the season after a pretty nice string of games going “under” in the past couple weeks.

How to Find Value Betting MLB Underdogs
by - 6/11/2013

There are several ways to find value in betting MLB underdogs, but it generally comes down to a couple of key variables. If you can identify a starting pitcher who is currently pitching better than his season numbers indicate, that's a good starting point.

MLB Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 6/10/2013

Is this the year the Pittsburgh Pirates have their first winning season since 1992? It's sure looking that way, and if you took the “over” 77 wins that 5Dimes posted back in the spring on the Pirates, you might as well start thinking of ways to spend those winnings.

This Week in MLB Baseball Betting By the Numbers
by Aaron Smith - 6/10/2013

We’re about one third of the way through the Major League Baseball season. It’s always important to take a step back and realize how long the season is and how streaks and slumps are going to come and go multiple times during the year. Just like the best baseball teams, even the best baseball bettors will have some nasty slumps. Keeping perspective is extremely important in being a successful baseball bettor.

MLB Totals Betting Analysis and Wagering Tips
by Indian Cowboy - 6/10/2013

Some baseball teams are involved in a lot of high-scoring games. Other teams play a lot of low-scoring affairs. But scoring a lot of runs, and/or giving up a lot of runs, doesn't necessarily mean a team will play a lot of “overs”. Reversely, teams that have trouble scoring but also possess strong pitching don't necessarily play mostly “unders”.

MLB Handicapping and Betting: the Bullpen Report
by Aaron Smith - 6/5/2013

Bullpen blowups seem to come more frequently than they did in the past. The starter does his job and leaves the game with a lead, only to see the bullpen come in and ruin all that hard work. It’s frustrating for the starting pitcher, and it’s definitely frustrating for the bettor who ends up tearing up a losing ticket.

MLB Handicapping Hot/Cold Pitchers and Hitters Betting Report
by Ricky Dimon - 6/4/2013

Quick. Who is leading the National League in home runs? Justin Upton? Nope. Carlos Beltran? No sir. Carlos Gonzalez? Negatory. The answer you are looking for is none other than Domonic Brown. The same Domonic Brown who had never recorded more than 187 at-bats in three previous major-league seasons.

MLB Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 6/4/2013

I think this is the make-or-break week for Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. The Dodgers, with their National League-record $217 million payroll, are simply a mess right now, sitting last in the NL West. Matt Kemp is on the disabled list, not that he was hitting much before landing there.

This Week in MLB Baseball Betting By the Numbers
by Aaron Smith - 6/3/2013

It was an exciting week of interleague action last week, but for most teams it is back to facing familiar foes this week. The Mets four-game sweep of the Yankees really caught everyone off guard during Interleague action. That sweep as well as their series win in the Bronx put the Boston Red Sox back ahead in the American League East.

Weekend MLB Odds and Previews for Top Series
by Robert Ferringo - 5/31/2013

Every week I highlight the weekend’s most interesting baseball series with a breakdown of the odds, pitching matchups and key subplots. But this weekend there are simply too many fantastic matchups to limit our focus to just one, and following this week’s horrendous interleague play (seriously, what the hell was going on with the 2-and-2 series’?) we are rewarded with one of the best weekend slates of the entire season.

MLB Handicapping: High-Value Pitchers
by Trevor Whenham - 5/29/2013

Handicapping baseball is so different than other sports. In most sports you have to focus so much on the whole team — how they are performing and how they match up with an opponent. The nature of baseball, though, means you can look a lot more closely at one player — the pitcher — and what opportunities he can create.

This Week in MLB Baseball Betting By the Numbers
by Aaron Smith - 5/29/2013

Two months into this year’s MLB season, and it is the St. Louis Cardinals with the best record in baseball. The Cardinals are 34-17 and putting on quite a show for their fans. Heading into the season, everyone knew the Cardinals had a terrific lineup. However, few could have guessed that the Cardinals would have the best team ERA in baseball at this point in the year. To say that the young starters for St. Louis have been great this year is a major understatement.

MLB Betting and Handicapping: Totals Trends Report
by Aaron Smith - 5/28/2013

The Memorial Day holiday is in the past, and the weather is quickly heating up. This is generally the time of the year where the ball starts flying a little better at many parks, and we start to see higher totals. It isn’t as easy as just betting the “over,” though, because the oddsmakers will definitely take into account the warmer weather when setting the lines for each game.

MLB Series Picks: Yankees at Rays Odds and Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 5/24/2013

New York travels to Florida this weekend for a three-game set with rival Tampa Bay. New York (28-18) is four games ahead of the Rays (24-22) right now, and the Yankees have overcome all manner of injury to get off to this hot start. But the main question surrounding New York is, just how long can guys like Vernon Wells, Lyle Overbay and Travis Hafner – guys left for dead entering this year – continue to carry water for the Bronx Bombers?