Baseball Handicapping Articles
NLDS Game 5 & ALCS Game 1 MLB Betting Matchups & Odds
by Alan Matthews - 10/12/2016
Maybe the Curse of the Billy Goat is a thing of the past and the Chicago Cubs are finally going to win the World Series. How else to describe what happened in the top of the ninth inning on Tuesday in San Francisco? The Giants were up 5-2 and appeared a sure thing to win their 11th straight postseason elimination game, which is just stupid.
NL Division Series Game 1 MLB Betting Matchups & Odds with Expert Picks
by Alan Matthews - 10/6/2016
I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone that the Chicago Cubs haven't won a World Series since 1908. And if they don't win it this year, I really do think that franchise is cursed because this is clearly the best team in baseball on paper. The Cubbies are +245 favorites at 5Dimes to win the Fall Classic and +115 to win the pennant -- honestly, many aged Cubs fans would be happy enough just to see them get to the World Series. While Chicago had easily the best record in the majors, only four times since the playoffs shifted to the divisional era has the top regular-season team won it all.
AL Division Series Game 1 MLB Betting Matchups & Odds with Expert Picks
by Alan Matthews - 10/5/2016
The AL West champion Texas Rangers will have home-field advantage throughout the 2016 MLB playoffs as the Rangers had the American League's best record at 95-67. Because the AL won the All-Star Game, the Rangers know they won't have to play a Game 7 anywhere but Arlington. Texas should have won its first World Series title in 2011 but blew Games 6 and 7 in St. Louis and hasn't been back since.
Wild-Card Round MLB Betting Matchups & Odds with Expert Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 10/3/2016
Want more proof that Major League Baseball is a "what have you done for me lately" sport when it comes to managers? Interesting story came out over the weekend that if the Mets had lost their game on Aug. 13 to the San Diego Padres that Manager Terry Collins would have been fired right then despite leading the team to the pennant last year.
Five to Follow MLB Betting: Saturday, October 1, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 9/30/2016
It's my final regular-season "Five To Follow" betting story, and I hope you have found these helpful for wagering on those early lines for games. Sometimes it can be very profitable betting an MLB game the day before it begins. I will continue occasionally in the playoffs when there are multiple games on a day. What individual races should you be monitoring on the final weekend? Locked up are the AL batting title (Houston's Jose Altuve) and almost surely the home-run crown (Baltimore's Mark Trumbo will lead the majors).
Five to Follow MLB Betting: Friday, September 30, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 9/29/2016
You are probably only paying attention to the good teams in the standings on the final weekend of the season with the AL and NL wild-card races still tight and the top seed in the Junior Circuit -- and thus home-field advantage throughout the playoffs -- still up for grabs. But don't overlook the bottom of the standings. We already know the Minnesota Twins will pick first in the 2017 draft. But it's very important for a team to finish with one of the 10 worst records in baseball if you are going to be bad regardless.
Five to Follow MLB Betting: Thursday, September 29, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 9/28/2016
I guess you can call it good news for the Cleveland Indians, already down their No. 2 and 3 pitchers Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar due to injury, on ace Corey Kluber. He was diagnosed with a quad injury on Tuesday and will be sidelined from 7-10 days. That makes him questionable for Game 1 of the ALDS -- most likely vs. the Red Sox or Rangers, two pretty darn good offensive teams.
Five to Follow MLB Betting: Wednesday, September 28, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 9/27/2016
The Washington Nationals will be holding their collective breath on Tuesday as the club awaits results of an MRI on the knee of All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos. He had to be helped off the field Monday after landing awkwardly when he jumped to catch a throw from the outfield. Ramos couldn't put any weight on his right knee, the same knee in which he missed time in 2012 with a torn ACL and MCL.
Five to Follow MLB Betting: Tuesday, September 27, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 9/26/2016
What utterly devastating news for the Miami Marlins franchise early Sunday morning when the team learned that All-Star pitcher Jose Fernandez was killed in a boating accident off Miami Beach. Fernandez was originally to start Sunday and thus probably wouldn't have been out so late at night before a start, but he had been pushed back to Monday. He is the youngest-ever All-Star to die in Major League Baseball.
Five to Follow MLB Betting: Saturday, September 24, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 9/23/2016
It has nothing to do with betting -- well, there's a chance that L.A. could clinch the NL West depending on what happens Friday and Saturday -- but I urge you to watch the Rockies-Dodgers game on Sunday afternoon. The MLB Network has picked up the game nationally (outside of the L.A. and Denver markets) because it will be the last game the voice of baseball, Vin Scully, will call at Dodger Stadium. It will be "Vin Scully Appreciation Day" at Chavez Ravine. When that guy talks and tells his stories, it's literally poetry.
Five to Follow MLB Betting: Friday, September 23, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 9/22/2016
As of Thursday, there's a three-way tie for the two National League wild-card spots between the Cardinals, Mets and Giants. Bit of a long shot that three end up that way by next Sunday night, but here's what would happen if there was an unprecedented three-way tie: On Monday, Oct. 3, the Cardinals would host the Mets and the winner of that is one of the wild-card teams.
Five to Follow MLB Betting: Thursday, September 22, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 9/21/2016
I'll admit that I'm a Cubs fans so I'm a little biased here, but it sure seems like the National League is totally opening up for them. Washington's Stephen Strasburg is hurt. The Mets can barely cobble together a healthy rotation. The Dodgers also are missing a few pitchers (one returns Thursday). And now comes news that San Francisco's Johnny Cueto was to have an MRI on Wednesday. He left Tuesday's start against the Dodgers in the sixth inning with a groin strain.
Five to Follow MLB Betting: Wednesday, September 21, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 9/20/2016
If there's one reason the San Francisco Giants' streak of winning the World Series in even-numbered years this decade will end, it's probably going to be the bullpen. That group blew another game on Monday in a big one against the Dodgers. It was the ninth time this season that the Giants lost when leading after eight innings, a franchise record. Since Aug. 13, the bullpen's ERA has topped 6.00 in the ninth or later compared to a 1.51 mark in all other innings during that span.
Five to Follow MLB Betting: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 9/19/2016
It was not a good weekend for the World Series chances of the Cleveland Indians and New York Mets. The Tribe, who recently lost All-Star right-hander Danny Salazar likely for the rest of the season with a forearm strain, did say goodbye for 2016 to another very good righty, Carlos Carrasco. He broke his right pinkie finger on Saturday when Carrasco was hit by a line drive off the bat of Detroit's Ian Kinsler. Carrasco (11-8, 3.32) missed six weeks earlier this season with a strained left hamstring.
Five to Follow MLB Betting: Saturday, September 17, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 9/16/2016
We have reached that time of year where you have to consider a team's motivation when betting on individual baseball games. On Thursday night, the Chicago Cubs lost at home to the Milwaukee Brewers with a chance to celebrate clinching their first NL Central title since 2008 in front of their fans. But the Cubbies won the division a few hours later when the Cardinals lost in San Francisco. So it's a guarantee that Joe Maddon will be resting a key guy or two in each game from here on out, while also limiting the workload of his starters to keep them fresh.
Five to Follow MLB Betting: Friday, September 16, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 9/15/2016
Back in the spring, I predicted a Red Sox-Astros ALCS matchup, and while Boston might get there it's looking grim for Houston to return to the playoffs. Especially after All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve, the AL batting leader, left Wednesday's game with an oblique injury. In the third inning against Texas, replays showed him grimacing after a swing during the plate appearance. Those oblique injuries usually take a while, and if that's true here, Altuve's season is likely over and he won't get to 200 hits, although he'll still win the batting title.
MLB Handicapping: Toronto Blue Jays Quickly Falling out of Playoff Picture
by Trevor Whenham - 9/15/2016
What a horrid start to September it has been for the Toronto Blue Jays. A month ago it seemed as if they were not only going to win the AL East for the second straight year but that they were going to run away from the competition. They were rounding into form and looked dangerous. Now, though, they have lost four straight series.
Five to Follow MLB Betting: Thursday, September 15, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 9/14/2016
Very interesting news from USA Today on Tuesday in that the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers were just a few minutes from completing a trade that would have sent Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, who is from the Los Angeles area, to the Dodgers for outfielder Yasiel Puig, pitcher Brandon McCarthy and prospects. The clubs couldn't quite finalize the deal before the Aug. 1 deadline, but it was so close that Brewers told Braun about it and to expect something.
Five to Follow MLB Betting: Wednesday, September 14, 2016, Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 9/13/2016
The Cleveland Indians are going to win the AL Central, barring an epic collapse, for their first division title since 2007. But I don't give them a great shot of reaching the World Series for the first time since 1997 due to the news that All-Star right-hander Danny Salazar is probably done for the season. An MRI on his right forearm showed mild strain of the flexor muscle, and he was to receive a platelet rich plasma injection in there on Tuesday.
MLB Betting Trends: Totals Report for Hot Over and Under Teams
by Aaron Smith - 9/12/2016
For the year as a whole, scoring is up in Major League Baseball. Home runs are up by a large amount this year, and that has a lot to do with the jump in scoring. In fact, through games played on Sept. 11, there have been 4,990 home runs in the league as a whole. All of last year there were only 4,909 home runs. There have been 51,508 games played in Major League Baseball so far this year. Last year, there were a total of 70,535 games. The home run has played a big role. Overall, the average team was scoring 4.07 runs per game two years ago. Last year, the number was 4.25 runs per game. So far this year, it is 4.50 runs per game.
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