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How to Bet Spring Training Baseball: Don’t Do It

by Robert Ferringo - 3/4/2025

How to bet Spring Training baseball Oakland Athletics hat

When I tell people there is money to be made betting on the NFL preseason betting they usually look at me with an expression that is a cocktail of confusion, surprise and horror.

I can actually see the thought bubble with the word, “DEGENERATE” forming above their heads.

Then I explain the reasoning behind betting on the NFL preseason – with things like motivational angles, coaching and experience differences, and scheduling quirks playing a big role. Slowly but surely, they start to understand just how far ahead of them I am when it comes to handicapping and making money in the betting markets.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the same bullish approach to Major League Baseball Spring Training games as I do on NFL preseason contests.

So while you probably won’t like it, my best advice for betting on Spring Training games is this: don’t do it.

Betting on March baseball is, frankly, ridiculous. Some games are played with split squads, meaning half of the team is regulars and half are randos. There are more rest days for veterans than a Caribbean all-inclusive. The managers don’t really care. The announcers don’t really care. And there are simply too many variables to contend with to make it worth your while.

Here is all you need to know about betting on Spring Training baseball: there are ties. These managers and players don’t even care enough about who wins or loses these games to play extra innings; if a game is tied, they just shake hands and move on.

The most important factor when judging a moneyline wager in a baseball game is the starting pitcher. However, in exhibition games there really is no telling how long the starter is going to stay in the game. Will he throw 30 pitches? How about 50? Maybe he’ll just face three batters today! Who knows?!?!

Further, for years MLB has tried to get sportsbooks to stop allowing betting on Spring Training games. The league itself points to things like “heightened integrity risks” because a lot of the players don’t give a damn. For every minor leaguer that is out there trying to run through brick walls, there are a half-dozen veterans nursing hangovers and just phoning it in.

Because of that, sportsbooks have low limits for spring training games. So even if you do find a brilliant situation there’s almost no way to turn it into a big payday.

Now, this is the part of the story where that one idiot that seemingly never loses a bet chimes in with, “Actually, I have a system for Spring Training and I clean up on it every year!”

Stop it.

Sure, maybe someone, somewhere actually does have a coherent method for grinding out minimal profit betting on exhibition baseball. Let’s pretend that’s true. First, if that’s the case they aren’t sharing. Second, those deviants make up about 0.002 percent of the betting population.

Third – and most importantly – think about the amount of time that you would have to spend dissecting MLB spring training games, box scores, pitch counts, injury and rest news, reliable starting lineup information, and every other angle of an MLB spring training game. Now think about how much more profitable and effectively you could use that time handicapping college basketball, NBA, or NHL games this time of the year.

Here is a good article about some basic tips for betting on Spring Training baseball. And they certainly make sense. But at the end of the day, it is a risk vs. reward situation and a time allocation issue that makes betting on fake games a bad idea.

You should definitely be paying attention to Major League Baseball right now. Like any sport, the seeds for a successful campaign are planted in the preseason. You need to pay attention to things like injuries, how the rule changes are impacting the game, and which players are off to hot or cold starts.

That doesn’t mean that you should be laying out your hard-earned cash on these excessively volatile situations.

When it comes to betting on Spring Training baseball just remember that sometimes the best bets are the ones you don’t make.

Robert Ferringo has posted five of seven winning MLB seasons and is looking forward to another dominating summer. He has gone on devastating runs in three of the past four years, banking +6,400 the first 10 days of 2023, +12,000 from April 21-June 30 in 2022 and taking home +14,800 in May-June in 2021. Robert also closed out the 2019 season on a +10,000 run, banked +20,000 from June of 2012 to April of 2016, and over +30,000 from 2007-2009. He has been one of the top baseball handicappers in the country for nearly two decades, and we are talking serious profit. Get signed up today!

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