Baseball Handicapping Articles

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Thursday, June 4, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/3/2015

I was waiting for a Cardinals off day to touch on an amazing streak to start the season by St. Louis outfielder Matt Holliday, but alas it ended on Tuesday. Holliday had reached base at least once in 45 straight games to start the year, a National League record. Derek Jeter held the all-time record at 53 in a row, and Ted Williams holds the mark at any point in a season at 74 straight. Holliday was 0-for-3 and was called out on strikes by umpire Joe West in the seventh inning.

Tracking the Nationals: MLB Picks and Handicapping for Washington Baseball
by Dave Schwab - 6/3/2015

Specialization when wagering on MLB games can be a viable betting strategy, and to help prove the point I am exclusively handicapping the Washington Nationals all season long. I will also be backing up my efforts with free picks for select Washington games with the use of Doc's Sports Unit Betting System. The ultimate goal is to build a profitable MLB bankroll with these unit plays.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Wednesday, June 3, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/2/2015

This may be the first time I've led back-to-back "Five to Follow" stories on the same team, but suddenly the Texas Rangers are rather interesting. You have the whole Josh Hamilton resurgence. Yesterday I mentioned that the team lost starting third baseman Adrian Beltre to an injured thumb for at least two weeks. Well, Texas got more interesting because of that as the team called up top prospect Joey Gallo, also a third baseman. This guy is the top power prospect in all of baseball -- even better than Kris Bryant.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Tuesday, June 2, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 6/1/2015

It was a good news/bad news weekend for the Texas Rangers. The good was that they won the final three games of their series with visiting Boston and Josh Hamilton looks completely rejuvenated. He hit two homers on Friday and then had the pinch-hit, walk-off double on Sunday to give Texas its first series victory at home all year. The bad was that third baseman Adrian Beltre suffered a sprain and laceration of his left thumb and will miss at least two weeks.

MLB Series Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 6/1/2015

The MLB regular season kicks off the month of June with a number of great matchups on Monday's slate, but I am taking things a step further with some series predictions with the help of Bovada's series prices for the games over the next three days. The following is a brief handicapping breakdown and free picks for my top three series prices for this week's action.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Sunday, May 31, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/30/2015

Is this the end of the road for Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz? Big Papi, probably a Hall of Famer (maybe not first ballot), is 39 years old and his contract is up after this season. He is hitting just .216 with six homers and 18 RBIs with a slugging percentage of .377 that some leadoff hitters can beat. In May he's hitting .200.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Saturday, May 30, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/29/2015

I'm certainly right more than wrong when dealing with baseball predictions -- perhaps not as much as I'd like to be -- but I'll eat crow when necessary. Have you seen the MLB standings entering the weekend? The Minnesota Twins are tied for first in the AL Central. I absolutely didn't see that coming and, like most, expected slight improvement this season for the team but still a last-place finish in perhaps MLB's deepest division. The Twins also have the best home record in the American League.

MLB Betting Advice: Under-the-Radar Teams to Wager on
by Robert Ferringo - 5/28/2015

Gauging value is critical to success in baseball betting. It isn't enough to know which are the best teams and who are the best pitchers. Baseball is one of the few sports that doesn't have a spread to compete with. Which means that risk-management and bankroll discipline are crucial for any wannabe summer profiteer.

MLB Betting Tips: Hottest Baseball Teams for Wagering
by Robert Ferringo - 5/28/2015

Momentum is monumental in Major League Baseball betting. Every team, from the 100-game winners to the 100-game losers, goes through hot streaks and cold streaks during the course of a 162-game season. And understanding who's hot and who's not is a key aspect to making money during the summer home run season.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Friday, May 29, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/28/2015

Interesting news out of New York this week as the Mets have decided to go to a six-man rotation in order to keep the innings down on the season for young right-handers Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. Pitching coach Dan Warthen indicated the Mets likely will stick with that extra starter in the rotation through early-to-mid-August. So that means the Mets will have a very thin bench for position players (probably four, and one has to be a backup catcher) for a few months. They better hope for no 18-inning games.

Tracking the Nationals: MLB Picks and Handicapping for Washington Baseball
by Dave Schwab - 5/28/2015

I am spending the entire MLB season exclusively handicapping the Washington Nationals and releasing free picks for select games with the use of Doc's Sports Unit Betting System to try and demonstrate the value of specialization when it comes to betting on baseball The ultimate goal to help prove the value in this betting strategy is to build a profitable bankroll with these unit plays.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Thursday, May 28, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/27/2015

The Marlins simply continue to embarrass themselves. Of course, general manager Dan Jennings named himself manager recently. When he first fired Mike Redmond many thought that third-base coach Brett Butler would become the manager at least for the rest of the season because he played 17 seasons in the majors and spent most of the past decade coaching and managing in the minors before joining the Marlins.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Wednesday, May 27, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/26/2015

Here's hoping you didn't bet on the Kansas City Royals on Monday at the Yankees or have starter Jeremy Guthrie in one those daily fantasy leagues. He had one of the worst outings in big-league history in allowing 11 runs -- four homers -- in just one inning. I feel comfortable in saying I can do better than that. Guthrie faced 16 batters and 13 reached. He became the third starter ever to give up at least 11 runs while recording three outs or fewer.

MLB Awards through a Quarter Season
by Alan Harris - 5/26/2015

With the 2015 MLB Season now about 40 or so games in, let's hand out some awards at the quarter pole. Now, we know that these awards aren't won after just a fourth of the season in the books, but we are far enough along to see who has jumped to the front in the various categories. Without further adieu, here are our 2015 MLB award winners through 5/26/15.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Tuesday, May 26, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/25/2015

Memorial Day is always a good benchmark for determining which teams will make the playoffs. Since the start of three-divisional play in 1995, about 60 percent of the teams leading their divisions or their league's wild-card race on Memorial Day have made it into the postseason. Last year on Memorial Day your division leaders were the Blue Jays, Tigers, A's, Braves, Brewers and Giants. Only Detroit won its division, but the A's and Giants made it in as wild cards.

MLB Series Odds with Expert Picks and Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 5/25/2015

The MLB regular season heads into the final week of May with quite a few intriguing matchups kicking things off for the Memorial Day Holiday. Bovada has released its three-game series prices in advance of the start of these new MLB series, and oftentimes you can find some tremendous value in the betting odds if you know how and where to look.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Sunday, May 24, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/23/2015

I am completely tired of hearing about the New England Patriots' "Deflategate" and think it's the most overblown thing in modern NFL history in terms of a rule violation or whatever you want to call it. But I bring that up because we had a baseball version of tampering with a ball happen on Thursday night as Brewers reliever Will Smith was ejected against Atlanta because it was determined had had slathered rosin and sunscreen on his forearm.

MLB Handicapping: Why Bats are Getting Hot Again
by Robert Ferringo - 5/22/2015

Guess what: MLB hitters don't suck anymore. Well, let's just say they suck less. If there was ever any question to the extent steroids impacted Major League Baseball, they were answered with the pathetic offensive performances of the past two seasons. Scoring dipped to levels not seen since the Bush presidency - the FIRST one - and the game had become painful to watch on a daily basis.

Five To Follow MLB Betting: Saturday, May 23, 2015 Opening Line Report
by Alan Matthews - 5/22/2015

There can be no argument that there are "letdown" games in the NFL, NBA and NHL. But those games are much more physically and emotionally taxing and a baseball game. So can there be such a thing as letdown series in MLB? I think we may find out this weekend when the San Francisco Giants visit Colorado.

MLB Betting: Studs and Duds
by Trevor Whenham - 5/22/2015

It seems that the baseball season has only just begun, but we are already about a quarter of the way through the season. That means that it is a very good time to look at what has happened so far from a betting perspective. Which teams have been particularly pleasurable to bet on? And which ones have burned large sums of bettors' money without shame? Let's take a look at baseball's betting studs and duds to this point: