Baseball Handicapping Articles

2018 Chicago White Sox Expert Predictions and Odds to Win the World Series
by Trevor Whenham - 3/5/2018

Are the White Sox rebuilding, or have they just given up? It's been a fair question to ask at times the last couple of years. But there is a bit of talent here, and the more optimistic out there could believe that they are ready to turn a corner and take some steps forward. We're not talking a corner like the Twins turned last year, to be clear. But the upside for the team this year is that they are not awful, and that will be a welcome change. They are helped by being grouped with as bad a bottom half of a division as you can find. But will that be enough? What does the season hold for this team?

2018 Detroit Tigers Expert Predictions and Odds to Win the World Series
by Trevor Whenham - 3/5/2018

The Tigers are following an interesting recipe - wait until the last minute to admit you are rebuilding and then do it in the most soul-crushing way that almost guarantees to be long and painful. I don't know how fun it has ever been to be a fan of the Tigers - at least in a couple of decades - but this is going to be as bad as it has ever been. It's as if they watched the Marlins totally dismantle their team and felt like they had been challenged to prove that they could be better at being awful. But how bad can this team be? And will they provide any sneaky value for bettors at any point along the way?

2018 Washington Nationals Expert Predictions and Odds to Win the World Series
by Chris Vasile - 3/2/2018

The Washington Nationals have won the NL East four times in the last six years. In most cases, that should translate to some sort of postseason success. However, for the Nationals and their fan base it has left them frustrated beyond belief. Despite those four division banners, the Nationals have yet to win a playoff series. They've lost to the Cardinals, Giants, Dodgers and Cubs all in the NLDS. It's hard to believe a team with such a potent starting rotation and a talented group of core players has yet to get over the hump.

2018 Cleveland Indians Expert Predictions and Odds to Win the World Series
by Trevor Whenham - 3/2/2018

It has been a great two-year run for the Indians. They lost Game 7 of the World Series in 2016 and then won 102 games last year - 22 of those wins coming consecutively - before a tough Game 5 loss to the Yankees in the ALDS. And they should be poised for another big season. It feels like this season has some extra urgency, though, because it could be the beginning of the end of an era. Both big pieces of the bullpen will be free agents following the season, and they will face several other key decisions next year.

2018 Minnesota Twins Expert Predictions and Odds to Win the World Series
by Trevor Whenham - 3/2/2018

On the surface last year was a decent-but-unremarkable season for the Minnesota Twins. They won 85 games to grab the last wild-card spot and then lost the wild-card game to make their postseason life last for one night. Fine, but not earth shattering. But when you consider that the team lost a league-worst 103 games in 2016, last year was just incredible.

2018 Los Angeles Angels Expert Predictions and Odds to Win the World Series
by Trevor Whenham - 3/2/2018

Mike Trout, pretty much universally viewed as the best player in the game, has been in the league for six seasons. The Los Angeles Angels have been somewhere between ordinary and bad for five of those years. The only 'good' year was 2014 when they won the division, but then they were swept by the Royals in the ALDS. It's a shocking waste of a generational talent.

2018 Houston Astros Expert Predictions and Odds to Win the World Series
by Trevor Whenham - 3/2/2018

Winning was hard, but the Astros made it look pretty easy. Now we get to see if they can make what so many teams have proved to be almost impossible look just as easy. They are back to defend their title, and they are doing it with pretty much the same team they had last year. We know how good the team can be. But will the amount of ball they have played wear on them? Or will they believe their headlines and find their heads are too big to fit in the clubhouse?

Expert MLB Betting Advice for 2018: Toughest Aces to Judge
by Trevor Whenham - 2/27/2018

The term 'ace' is perhaps the most abused in baseball. People talk about the first starter of a team as the ace - even if they have not done anything to earn the term other than being better than the other guys on a questionable rotation. Daily, though, you'll see and hear talk in the media of an ace heading to the mound. Bettors, especially casual bettors, react to this and give the pitcher more credit than he might deserve because he is viewed as the ace.

MLB Betting Primer 2018: Best and Worst Bets Last Season
by Trevor Whenham - 2/27/2018

Every year there are teams in Major League Baseball that make their backers buckets full of money. And there are those that put bettors' money in a pile and light it on fire. Obviously, the more of the former and the fewer of the latter you can consistently bet on the better off you are going to be. While there is still time between now and the start of the regular season, it's a good time to look back at last year to see which teams were a great bet on the moneyline, which teams really weren't, and what we might expect from them this year.

2018 Chicago Cubs Expert Predictions and Odds to Win the World Series
by Chris Vasile - 2/27/2018

After the dust settled on the Chicago Cubs' miraculous 2016 World Series title, the Wrigley faithful were left scratching their heads last season in dismay. The Cubs followed up a phenomenal 2016 regular season by winning 11 games fewer (103-58 in 2016, to 92-70 in 2017). Don't get me wrong, a 92-70 record is brilliant, but there were several extended periods of time where the Cubs struggled and looked like a shell of their 2016 self.

2018 Los Angeles Dodgers Expert Predictions and Odds to Win the World Series
by Chris Vasile - 2/27/2018

The Dodgers were one Game 7 win away from ending the franchise's 29-year championship drought. Unfortunately, they just weren't good enough when it mattered most. The starting pitching let them down, the lineup couldn't muster any offense, and the managerial decisions left the majority of fans scratching their heads.

2018 San Francisco Giants Expert Predictions and Odds to Win the World Series
by Chris Vasile - 2/27/2018

The San Francisco Giants have won three of the last eight World Series trophies, with the last triumph coming in 2014. For most franchises one World Series would be enough in that time frame. However, for the Giants, the disappointment of missing the playoffs in two of the last three seasons weighs on them more than the euphoria that three World Titles in the last eight seasons.

2018 St. Louis Cardinals Expert Predictions and Odds to Win the World Series
by Chris Vasile - 2/27/2018

An MLB postseason without the St. Louis Cardinals has been a rare happening for the last decade or so - until recently. The Cardinals have missed two straight postseasons, and fans are starting to get frustrated with the team's direction. Manager Mike Matheny figures to be on the hot seat this season if things aren't going well at the All-Star break.

2018 Colorado Rockies Expert Predictions and Odds to Win the World Series
by Chris Vasile - 2/27/2018

It seems like just yesterday we were watching the Colorado Rockies win 14 of their last 15 games to secure a wild-card spot and eventually play themselves into the 2007 World Series. Unfortunately for Rockies fans, that was 11 years ago, and no season has even come remotely close to that except for last season's wild-card loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rockies were an 87-win team last year with a rookie manager and a below-average pitching staff. While the manager now has a year of experience under his belt, the pitching staff has taken a step back, so any success the Rockies do run into this year will be courtesy of one of the best batting lineups in the National League.

Free MLB Futures Betting Picks: Pitcher Win Totals
by Trevor Whenham - 2/27/2018

Baseball is all about starting pitching. Winning teams have it and losing teams don't. We can judge a whole lot from the quality of a staff entering a season. It can be tougher, though, to judge individual pitchers - and tougher still to figure out how their performance will turn into wins because so much of a win-loss record is beyond the control of the pitcher. Difficulty is what makes things fun for bettors, though, which is why these pitcher season win totals from BetOnline are so much fun to look at. Here are nine that stood out as particularly interesting.

Expert MLB Handicapping: 2018 Outlook for Last Year's Playoff Squads
by Trevor Whenham - 2/27/2018

Our goal here is simple. Last year there were 10 playoff teams in Major League Baseball. Several of them will return to the playoffs this year. Some won't. As we wait for spring training to end and games to really matter, it makes sense to go down that list and see which teams seem to fit into which group. (odds to win the World Series are from BetOnline):

MLB Futures Betting Odds and Expert Picks: Judge v Stanton
by Trevor Whenham - 2/27/2018

It had been 16 years since we had seen a power hitter have a year like Giancarlo Stanton had for the Marlins last year when he hit 59 home runs. And Aaron Judge's breakout rookie year with 52 homers was no less impressive. They were the undisputed home run kings last year - J.D. Martinez was third in the league but had seven fewer than Judge.

MLB Home Run King Odds and Expert Betting Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 2/26/2018

Here's some breaking news for you - the kind of biting insight you can only get here. The New York Yankees are going to hit a lot of home runs. What am I basing this bold claim on? Well, you take the American League home run leader and give him another year of experience. Then you add the overall home run leader and best power hitter in the game, and you put him in a very favorable park - both overall and compared to where he came from. Then you consider that Gary Sanchez had 33 runs last year, and Didi Gregorius had 25, and that both have plenty of upside yet to be tapped - especially Sanchez. Things could get crazy.

MLB Spring Training Expert Betting Advice
by Trevor Whenham - 2/26/2018

Almost without exception preseason sports are a total waste of oxygen. I said almost, though, because spring training baseball can actually be pretty great - especially if you are lucky enough to get to attend the games in person. Spring training baseball is casual and beautiful and far less handicapped by the limitations of the preseason than other sports are. It's not perfect, but it's pretty solid. And it can provide some decent betting opportunities as well.

MLB Betting Advice for 2018 Season: Possible Surprise Teams
by Trevor Whenham - 2/14/2018

Last year the Minnesota Twins were a total and complete shock, somehow improving from a pathetic 59-win season in 2016 to 85 wins and a brief playoff appearance. It made no sense. The Colorado Rockies were almost as surprising, improving from 75 wins to 87 at a time when most people had forgotten they were even still in the Major Leagues, and they also made a short playoff appearance. And even the Yankees were a bit of a surprise, winning 91 games and going to Game 7 of the ALCS in a year when many, myself included, thought they would be regrouping.