Baseball Handicapping Articles

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?

MLB Handicapping: Can Pirates Make the Postseason?
by Trevor Whenham - 5/24/2013

If the playoffs were to start today, the Pittsburgh Pirates would be a wild-card team. It’s not even close, either — they have a full three game lead over Colorado and Arizona. Now, it’s only May, so it is far too early to get excited — especially because Pittsburgh started strong last year before remembering who they are.

MLB Handicapping: Washington Nationals Struggles
by Trevor Whenham - 5/24/2013

Don’t the Nationals realize that they are supposed to be an elite team? Don’t they know that I picked them to win the World Series? They sure haven’t played like they do. Despite coming into the season with massive expectations befitting the preseason favorites to win the National League, they currently sit just one game above .500 at 24-23. They sit 4.5 games behind the Braves in the division and five games behind the Pirates and Reds in the wild-card hunt.

MLB Handicapping and Betting: the Bullpen Report
by Aaron Smith - 5/21/2013

Nothing ticks a baseball bettor off more than a bullpen blowing a seemingly sure victory. I’d like to say that this is a rare occurrence, but we all know that isn’t true. It seems as if the quality of bullpen pitchers has gone downhill over the past few years. There are still some great relievers, but there certainly isn’t an abundance of depth.

MLB Handicapping Hot/Cold Pitchers and Hitters Betting Report
by Ricky Dimon - 5/21/2013

Miguel Cabrera isn’t necessarily hot at the moment. He’s just plain good in general. The same can almost be said for Justin Masterson, who has been on a steady burn for the most part this year. Chris Sale? Brandon McCarthy? Now those guys are hot. At the other end of the spectrum, some big names like Barry Zito and Ichiro Suzuki are struggling. It’s time to take another look at the hot-cold meter as the 2013 season approaches the end of its second month (all odds provided by Sportsbook.ag).

This Week in MLB Baseball Betting By the Numbers
by Aaron Smith - 5/20/2013

One quarter of the MLB season is now complete. It’s still very early in the year, but it looks like we’ll see some great races in several different divisions. The AL East, NL Central, NL West, and AL Central all look like they have potential to be great races. If the Nationals ever start playing like they really should, then the NL East could be added to that list as well.

Reds at Phillies Picks, Odds and MLB Series Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 5/17/2013

Two teams stalking their respective division leaders will lock horns in the City of Brotherly Love this weekend as Cincinnati takes a six-game winning streak to Philadelphia for a set against the Phillies. The Reds, currently with the second-best record in the National League, have pulled back-to-back sweeps to get within 1.5 games of St. Louis.

This Week in MLB Baseball Betting By the Numbers
by Aaron Smith - 5/15/2013

At the last installment of this report, the Boston Red Sox were in first place in the AL East. Baseball is a long season, but that doesn’t mean things can’t change quickly. Fast forward to this week, and the Red Sox are three games behind the red-hot New York Yankees.

MLB Betting and Handicapping: Totals Trends Report
by Aaron Smith - 5/14/2013

We’re halfway through the month of May, and the baseball action is heating up as the weather slowly warms up. After Boston shot out of the gates, it is the New York Yankees who now sit at the top of the AL East standings with the best record in baseball. The Bronx Bombers aren’t letting injuries slow them down.

MLB Handicapping Hot/Cold Pitchers and Hitters Betting Report
by Ricky Dimon - 5/14/2013

The Brewers are a disappointing 16-20 because they have given up 178 runs, more than any other team in the National League. As for their hitting, however, Ryan Braun is having a solid season, and he is getting help not only from Carlos Gomez but also from someone named Jean Segura. Segura is not merely the hottest player on his team; he is the hottest player in baseball.

MLB Picks: Indians at Tigers Series Odds and Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 5/10/2013

The Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers aren’t two teams that move the needle nationally. But the Rust Belt rivals are two of the hottest teams in baseball right now and locking horns for a key American League Central series this weekend in Motown.

MLB Handicapping: Blue Jays and Angels Struggles
by Trevor Whenham - 5/10/2013

If you had surveyed 100 baseball fans before this season started about which team was going to win the American League, the large majority of answers would have been split between the Los Angeles Angels and the Toronto Blue Jays. At the time that made sense, but right now it is proving to be very, very wrong.

MLB Hot/Cold: Halladay Needs a Holiday
by Ricky Dimon - 5/8/2013

If it wasn’t time to panic already, it is now. At least if you have anything to do with the organizations in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. The Dodgers are 13-17 and in fourth place in their own division, but they don’t even have it as bad as the Angels and Phillies. Thanks in part to Josh Hamilton’s futility, the Angles are a horrendous 11-20. Roy Halladay has the second worst E.R.A in baseball among qualifying pitchers, and the Phillies are struggling at 15-18.

This Week in MLB Baseball Betting By the Numbers
by Aaron Smith - 5/7/2013

The calendar has flipped over to May, and there are plenty of big stories in Major League Baseball. Los Angeles can’t seem to get a winner despite having two teams with payrolls as big as the state of California. The only thing hot in Los Angeles right now is the seat for both Don Mattingly and Mike Scioscia.

Dodgers at Giants Series Picks and MLB Betting Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 5/3/2013

I know that the prepackaged narrative in the national media is that the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is the most heated in baseball. But the fact is that if we’re measuring a rivalry by the amount of murders and near-death beatings inflicted by members of the opposing fan bases on one another, then you have to go with the Dodgers-Giants as the most vicious rivalry in the sport.

MLB Betting: Top 5 Futures Value Plays
by Aaron Smith - 5/3/2013

We are a little more than a month into the new season, and there have been some big surprises and big disappointments all over the MLB standings. As a baseball bettor, it’s always a good idea to try to take advantage of surprises and disappointments. It’s a long year, and just because one team has a good or bad month certainly doesn’t mean that’s the way it will be all year. That’s where finding value in MLB futures can be a very profitable venture.

MLB Handicapping and Betting: the Bullpen Report
by Aaron Smith - 5/1/2013

If you are a baseball bettor, there is no doubt that you have had some heartbreaking losses due to a bad bullpen outing. We’ve all been there. The starter does his job and hands it over to the bullpen, which proceeds to ruin all of the starter’s hard work and cost you money. It’s probably the most frustrating way to lose a wager.