MLB handicapping
September 29th MLB news ... In order to score a profit on a sport like baseball, the bettor must be up to date with all of the daily trends, MLB handicapping, statistics and tips.
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In order to score a profit on a sport like baseball, the bettor must be up to date with all of the daily trends, statistics and tips. You will be able to find all of that information and more right here, all season long.
MLB News
Report: Cubs the clear front-runner for Russell Martin
2014-11-17
Martin is the prize of this off-seasons class of free agent catchers after batting .290/.402/.430 with 11 home runs and 67 RBI for the Pirates. He continues to draw praise for his defense, pitch framing, and handling a pitching staff as well.
In the event the Cubs do land Martin, they will likely make 27-year-old catcher Welington Castillo available.
MLB: Cubs just can’t beat bad teams
2010-07-20
The Chicago Cubs haven’t been kind to their finds or faithful bettors this season. With last night’s loss to the Houston Astros, the Cubs are now 10 games under .500. More importantly, the Cubs are down 21.4 betting units for the season. Sportsbook.com expects the Cubs to eat into that negative unit number a bit tonight as they are -240 home favorites versus the Astros.
Diehard Cubs' fan Jim Belushi once starred in a movie titled "Taking Care of Business". His team certainly hasn't done that, and bettors need look no further than trends for evidence of team’s performance tendencies and the following list from FoxSheets underscore the Cubs’ ineptitude this season:
• CHICAGO CUBS are 18-31 (-24.8 Units) against the money line when playing against a team with a losing record this season. The average score was CHICAGO CUBS 3.9, OPPONENT 4.6 - (Rating = 3*)
Think about that for a second, if Chicago is 13-games below .500 against teams with losing records, it means they are 3-games over .500 against winning clubs. If the Cubs had simply only played 25-24 baseball against the league’s lesser teams, they would be only 3-1/2 games out of the Central lead right now and in contention.
• CHICAGO CUBS are 8-18 (-19.1 Units) against the money line vs. an NL team with a team batting average of .245 or worse this season. The average score was CHICAGO CUBS 3.5, OPPONENT 4.3 - (Rating = 4*)
The Cubs are 19.1 units in the hole for bettors who have backed them against the league’s worst hitting clubs this season. Strangely, pitching isn’t the problem. As you can see, they are producing only 3.5 runs per game offensively themselves against these weak hitting foes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there…
• CHICAGO CUBS are 17-29 (-23.6 Units) against the money line vs. a poor bullpen whose ERA is 4.50 or worse this season. The average score was CHICAGO CUBS 4.5, OPPONENT 5.1 - (Rating = 3*)
Typically, teams are able to mount come from behind rallies against poor bullpens. Such has not been the case for Chicago.
• CHICAGO CUBS are 15-28 (-22.6 Units) against the money line vs. poor power teams - averaging 0.9 or less HR's/game this season. The average score was CHICAGO CUBS 3.2, OPPONENT 4.0 - (Rating = 3*)
The Cubs are 13-games below .500 against teams that don’t hit a lot of home runs, returning a negative 52.5% on investment.
• CHICAGO CUBS are 7-22 (-25.2 Units) against the money line vs. NL teams scoring 4.3 or less runs/game on the season this season. The average score was CHICAGO CUBS 2.9, OPPONENT 4.4 - (Rating = 6*)
Perhaps the ugliest nugget of all, Chicago is not only allowing its run-starved opponents to outscore their normal averages, it’s own offense is producing just 2.9 runs per game on this trend. With an ROI of -86.9%, this trend gets a 6* rating from FoxSheets.
And finally…
• CHICAGO CUBS are 6-15 (-19.7 Units) against the money line as a favorite of -150 or more this season. The average score was CHICAGO CUBS 3.7, OPPONENT 4.9 - (Rating = 5*)
Chicago is 9-games under .500 when playing to its biggest chalk lines this season. Of course, this will be put to test tonight, as the Cubs are hefty -240 favorites at Sportsbook.com against the Astros behind Ryan Dempster. The Cubs are just 9-16 (-11.9 units) over the last two years in divisional play behind Dempster, and 15-26 overall versus Central Division rivals in 2010.
Meanwhile, the Astros boast a 21-16 divisional record this season, producing 11.9 units of profit. They will turn the ball over to Wesley Wright, who after 126 MLB relief appearances and a recent stint in Triple-A, makes his first career start.
Now that you know some of the key numbers for tonight’s game, head over to Sportsbook.com and place your bets. With some of the most generous dime lines the industry has to offer, it is no wonder that everybody bets on baseball at Sportsbook.com.
MLB: Add Umpires to Baseball Betting Portfolio
2010-06-07
This baseball season, umpires have been in the news a bit more often than usual. Joe West called out the Yankees and Red Sox for slow play in April, as most of their games go right up against a 240 minute hour glass. And just last week Jim Joyce cost Detroit’s Armando Galarraga a place in baseball history by missing a call that would have given him the 21st perfect game ever. It’s clear that umpires have a big hand in the result of games, and thus should be part of your handicapping routine. Fortunately, Sportsbook.com has the tools you need to keep track of this important aspect in its UMPIRE REPORT, updated daily.
Sharp baseball bettors take the time to study or at the very least know whose working behind the dish to understand what kind of influence they may have on the outcome of a game.
This is especially true for baseball bettors who playing totals. Umpiring is more standardized today with the use of modern equipment to see how consistent an umpire is in calling balls and strikes, compared to the old days when the National League was known a “high ball” league and American League was known as a “low ball” league based on how they wore their chest protectors.
Those days are gone, however each umpire interprets the strike zone differently and it tends to be somewhat of a moving target.
This is where you find some are liberal with the zone and their games tend to be lower scoring, while others are smaller, either by width or height and the games they call behind the plate are often higher scoring with pitchers having to catch more of plate which gives batters a better choice of pitches to hit.
Here are the umpires that have called the highest percentage of Over contests this season.
Games OVER the total (Pushes not listed)
Angel Campos 9-2
Tim Welke 9-2
Angel Hernandez 9-3
Mike Reilly 8-3
Sam Holbrook 6-2
Next are the umps that have called the most Under the oddsmakers total.
Games UNDER the total (Pushes not listed)
Jim Wolf 10-1
Bob Davidson 10-2
Bruce Dreckman 9-2
Dan Iassogna 9-3
One aspect that has to be considered is who and the types of pitchers involved. If the men in shirtsleeves this time of year have No. 4 or 5 starters on consistent basis and they have tighter strike zone to begin with, needless to say the chances of a higher scoring game go up. Conversely, if an umpire draws the top pitchers from the various teams and normally gives the hurler the benefit of the doubt to begin with, than he’s more inclined to have games flying Under the number.
One further point of consideration is the record of an umpire in home or away situations. This generally is less important, nevertheless extreme cases should be part of the decision-making process.
These guys are human and are going to be influenced by their surroundings, a juiced up home crowd could sway decisions, just like what happens in basketball to officials. Other umps might be a touch “prickly”, and go out of their way to give the visitor the benefit of the doubt.
You can’t help but notice the home team is 12-0 with Ted Tichenor behind the plate in a home ball park in 2010. Others with figures supporting the club that bats last are Tim McClelland 11-2, Gerry Davis 10-3, Brian O’Nora 10-3, Greg Gibson 10-3 and Jerry Meals 10-3.
Those that have the opposite numbers with the visiting team coming out ahead are Ed Rapuano 9-2 (visitors record), Marvin Hudson 8-3, plus Bob Davidson and Laz Diaz at 9-4.
The idea isn’t to base a baseball wager on the outcome of what an umpire’s record is on totals or sides, but to understand that they can and do influence the outcome of games. Mixed with other key information, they are part of the fabric of the game and baseball wagering.
MLB: Yankees uncertain favorite in Game 2
2009-10-29
Game 2 of the 2009 World Series is set for Thursday in New York, with the hosts down 1-0 after last night’s 6-1 Philadelphia triumph. The Phillies are in search of their second straight title, and took a big step towards that goal in winning the opener. Tonight, they’ll send Pedro Martinez to the hill to face A.J. Burnett. Oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com have installed the Yankees as a huge -200 favorite, crazy considering how poorly they played in Game 1.
The New York Yankees were left utterly dumbfounded in Game 1. Chase Utley battled C.C. Sabathia in two at bats, following off strikes until the lefthander got just a bit too much of the plate and rifled two shots over the right field wall. Cliff Lee did the rest, in stifling New York on one run and six hits for complete game gem, which included 10 strikeouts and zero walks. Lee was seemingly in his own world on the mound with a pair of unusual fielding plays that he was almost flippant about.
New York hitters had nary a clue what to do with Lee and they hope to have much better success against Pedro Martinez or their suddenly dwindling chances of winning the Fall Classic will take another severe hit. What’s the big deal about losing the first game? The winner of Game 1 of the World Series has won seven straight World Series, 11 of the last 12 and 12 of 14 with the introduction of the wild card teams.
A.J. Burnett will be asked to do his best Lee-imitation. In his first season in the Pinstripes, Burnett is 13-9 with a 4.04 ERA and has not picked up a decision in the postseason with two decent starts and one pretty good beating. The concern for manager Joe Girardi is Burnett’s command. After posting an almost 2 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio during the regular season, the former Florida Marlin has 13 K’s and 10 W’s in three playoff appearances. Sportsbook.com has New York has -200 favorite with total of Un9 and the Yankees have won 11 of 13 in this spot with Burnett on the hill at home.
Doubts were expressed about Philadelphia feeling any pressure, being the defending champions. The numbers said the Phillies were underdogs coming into the series, which just added another log on the fire. No home field advantage for the second straight year, having the best road record in baseball at 52-34 takes care of that.
Pedro Martinez will attempt to squeeze what is left out of his right arm. Martinez is 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA since joining the Phillies and pitched seven shutout innings against the Dodgers in 2-1 loss that the bullpen gave away.
Philadelphia has owned October and will attempt to do same in November as they are 19-5 in the postseason the last two years and 27-11 after allowing four runs or less four straight games.
Coming into the series, two elements were deemed very important in determining the outcome. Who could jack the most balls over the wall from these power-laden clubs would affect the outcome and Chase Utley answered that one. Also, getting the starting pitchers out of the game and see how the relief pitchers would perform. What chance New York had late in the game was swept out to the Hudson River, with the Yanks pen rocked for four runs in the last two innings.
FOX has Game 2 beginning at 7:55 Eastern and the last five meetings between these teams in New York have produced five Unders.
The StatFox Power Line indicates Yankees -155, a sign that Sportsbook is asking bettors to overpay if they want that side of the game.