Baseball Handicapping Articles

MLB Bold Baseball Betting Predictions for 2013
by Trevor Whenham - 4/3/2013

We’re at the beginning of another long, glorious baseball season. From now to October there will be games virtually every day. It’s a buffet of betting greatness. As we embark on this season, here are nine bold betting predictions for 2013. It’s like a crystal ball into the future:

MLB Handicapping: Starters Who Should be in Minor Leagues
by Trevor Whenham - 4/3/2013

It is very tough for a Major League team to construct a solid five-man rotation. Heck, the Yankees spend more than the GDP of most countries on their payroll each year, and it has been a long time since their rotation has been more than just passable. Even knowing the challenges, though, there are some roster moves at the start of each season that really make you shake your head. Are teams really desperate enough to think that these guys are the best they can do with their rotation? Here are four guys that really caught my eye and who could provide nice opportunities to bet against them:

MLB Handicapping Advice: Overrated Teams
by Robert Ferringo - 4/2/2013

There is no one in sports as optimistic as a Major League Baseball fan in April. Hope is the calling card of the spring. And as the 2013 baseball betting season gets underway, there are teams and talents and t-shirt-emblazoned fans just dying to believe that this could be Their Year. The result is a sort of delusion that leads to misguided money management and broken dreams for bettors trying to ride the lightning on their favorite team or that I-called-it underdog.

2013 MLB Handicapping Tips: Underrated Teams
by Robert Ferringo - 4/2/2013

It is easy in baseball to jump on the favorite. You find the team with the bigger bats, the better arms, and the bloated payroll and you are usually going to find the team with 90 wins and a playoff date. But the best teams in baseball are usually fairly obvious.

MLB Predictions: 2013 AL and NL MVP Award Props Odds
by Alan Matthews - 3/28/2013

Thank you Buster Posey! Ian Kinsler? Thanks for nothing! Last year in my spring American League and National League MVP props story, I thought the best value on the board in the Senior Circuit was Giants catcher Buster Posey at 25/1. I’ll be honest in that I thought Posey had almost no chance to win it at the all-star break (he wasn’t even an option on Bovada’s midseason MVP props).

2013 MLB Handicapping: Unpredictable Pitchers
by Trevor Whenham - 3/28/2013

In the past weeks we have looked at pitchers who I am very optimistic about this year — I expect them to have a great season. We’ve also looked at the guys I just don’t have high hopes for at all. Now it’s time to look at the third group — the guys I have absolutely no idea about. Each of these guys has the clear potential to be very good — near the top of their league. They also have the potential to be a total nightmare for their teams, the fans, and bettors who choose to trust them.

Handicapping the MLB Opening Day Matchups
by Trevor Whenham - 3/27/2013

I love Spring Training. It’s Major League Baseball in its purest and simplest form. There comes a time every year, though, that I suddenly get tired of the spring and start to itch for the games to actually count. I’ve reached that point this year.

MLB Predictions: 2013 Pitching Strikeout Leaders
by Alan Matthews - 3/26/2013

When determining which pitcher will lead Major League Baseball in strikeouts, you might be inclined to lean toward a National League hurler. After all, they get an easy strikeout or two when the opposing pitcher bats. But no NL pitcher has led baseball since 2008 when Tim Lincecum did it with 265.

Handicapping the New York Yankees
by Trevor Whenham - 3/23/2013

There is much more angst surrounding the New York Yankees this year than any year in recent memory. The empire has undoubtedly been fading for a while now, but this year people are widely predicting that it could come crashing down to earth. The start the team has had in the spring has done little to ease those concerns — they are dead last in the Grapefruit League. So, is this spring a good indication that the Yankees really are in trouble this year? Or have we really learned little about this team so far? Let’s take a look:

2013 NL East Picks and MLB Betting Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 3/18/2013

The Nats enter the 2013 MLB season as one of the top teams in the National League and one of the frontrunners to win the World Series. However, they will get stiff competition in the East from both the stocked Atlanta Braves and the veteran Philadelphia Phillies. The National League East is always one of the most competitive and hard fought of all division races, and with three powerhouse teams vying for the crown, this promises to be a wild summer race.

2013 NL Central Picks and MLB Betting Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 3/15/2013

In the 18-year history of the National League Central there have been only three teams that have managed to win back-to-back division titles. Now-departed Houston pulled a three-peat from 1997-1999, the Cardinals won three straight from 2004-2006 and the Chicago Cubs pulled a rare double in 2007-2008. That is a far cry from the National League East, which has been dominated by two teams for 20 years, and it doesn’t bode well for last year’s division winners, Cincinnati.

MLB Predictions: 2013 Pitching Wins Head-To-Head Props Odds
by Alan Matthews - 3/15/2013

Is this finally the year we see a starting pitcher win 30 games for the first time since Detroit's Denny McLain went 31-6 in 1968? Uh, that's a big fat no. Among the Major League Baseball single-season magic numbers that will never be reached again (.400, 73, 56, 191), include that 30-win barrier.

MLB Handicapping: Pitchers Who Could Disappoint
by Trevor Whenham - 3/15/2013

The pitcher is often the biggest reason why bettors bet on or against a team in baseball. That means that having an opinion or perception of a player that isn’t accurate can be very costly. That’s a problem that public bettors often face because they don’t adjust their opinions to reality very quickly. Heading into every season, it’s a good exercise to look at the pitchers that could be surprisingly good, and those that may not be able to meet massive expectations.

WBC Baseball Picks and Odds: Puerto Rico at United States
by Alan Matthews - 3/11/2013

Despite a surprising loss to Team Mexico in its World Baseball Classic opener - I recommended the Mexicans on the runline in that one and also hit the “under” -- the United States avoided disaster by advancing to the second round of the WBC and open double-elimination play against Puerto Rico on Tuesday night at Marlins Park in Miami.

2013 NL West Picks and MLB Betting Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/9/2013

Style or substance? Flash or finish? Hype or heart? Those are truly the themes of the 2013 National League West. The Los Angeles Dodgers have dominated the headlines on the West Coast this offseason, and they enter the season with a team that is basically a fantasy baseball team roster. The Dodgers, as well as the Colorado Rockies with their highly-touted talents, have the name recognition and star power to lure in bettors.

2013 AL Central Picks and MLB Betting Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/9/2013

The A.L. Central will once again battle its National League counterpart for the title of The Worst Division in Baseball. And last year the A.L. Central teams certainly made a case. Three of the five teams lost 90 or more games, their division winner, Detroit, did go to the World Series. But they also entered the playoffs with just the seventh-best record in baseball.

2013 AL East Picks and MLB Betting Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/8/2013

For the first time in what feels like forever, neither the Boston Red Sox nor the New York Yankees enter the season expected to win the division. The Red Sox are in the beginning stages of a massive franchise overhaul after last summer’s housecleaning. The Yankees are stubbornly holding onto their aging core of veterans and hoping that they have just one last run in them.

2013 AL West Picks and MLB Betting Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/8/2013

Last year it was, “poor, poor Seattle Mariners.” Seattle was clearly the worst team in a loaded American League West, and they entered the season with nothing to look forward to but a beating by the Angels and Rangers. But this year the Houston Astros are going to make the 2012 Mariners seem like a division champ.

WBC Baseball Picks and Odds: Mexico at United States
by Alan Matthews - 3/8/2013

The United States begins its World Baseball Classic pool play on Friday night at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, against Mexico. The Americans were the slight WBC betting favorites entering the tournament, but one could argue that's no longer the case.

Finding MLB Early-Season Betting Value: Possible Breakout Pitchers
by Trevor Whenham - 3/5/2013

This year, we are just not going to see a pitcher breakout like R.A. Dickey did last year. We really never have, and we may never again. This time last year he was a 37-year-old with a 41-50 career record on four teams. Few people knew his name. Now he’s a Cy Young winner and a high-priced acquisition for the rising Blue Jays. It’s the ultimate in Cinderella stories.