Baseball Features

Baseball Features

Top 3 MLB Rookies Of 2010

Throughout the season there is much to look forward to for the average MLB betting enthusiast. One such appeal is the development of each league’s rookies. The rookies give baseball betting fans a good indication of how well a team has developed their homegrown talent. Here are three rookies that have stood out in 2010 thus far.

Jason Heyward Outfielder Atlanta Braves – Although battling injuries this season, to say Heyward is going to be amazing for years to come would be an understatement. The Braves have not had this good of an outfield prospect since Andruw Jones played for the club. Heyward kicked off the 2010 season in style, cranking a homer in his first at bat. When he’s healthy, Heyward is one of the most dangerous hitters in the game and this is his first year.

Stephen Strasburg Pitcher Washington Nationals – When it comes to the debut of pitching prospects, nobody has debuted the way Strasburg did. For instance, in his June 8 debut he struck out an astounding 14 batters over seven innings.

Honestly, as well as Strasburg has pitched there are so many good rookie pitchers this season that it was tough to narrow it down to one. Strasburg is currently on the disabled list due to shoulder stiffness.

Buster Posey Catcher San Francisco Giants – Ever since Barry Bonds left the Giants back in 2008, the team has been filled with prospects at every position but catcher. Enter Buster Posey the team’s top catching prospect. Posey has put together 10 and 21 game hit streaks during his rookie season. His defensive skills and offensive tools were enough to spell the end to long time Giant Bengie Molina. Although the Giants are once again not going to make the post season, Posey and his teammates provide room for optimism in San Francisco.

Wrigley Field Profile

Vitals:

Location: 1060 West Addison Street, Chicago, Illinois.

Date Opened: April 23, 1914

Owner: Chicago Cubs

Architect: Zachary Taylor Davis

Capacity: 41,160

Cost: $250,000

MLB Betting fans have seen plenty of heartbreak at the Friendly Confines, which is one of the oldest, most memorable and allegedly cursed ball parks of all time. Cub’s fans betting on the team to win a World Series have been waiting for over a century. The team last one a world series in 1908 when they called the West Side Ball Park their home field.

Since moving to Wrigley in 1916, the Cubs have played host to the World Series four times. The Cubs last appearance in a meaningful baseball game at Wrigley was in October of 1945 in a losing effort. Over the last 65 years, the Cubs have struggled mightily at Wrigley, and many have pondered why the club has not considered switching to a new stadium.

Wrigley Field was nicknamed the Friendly Confines by hall of famer and Mr. Cub Ernie Banks. It is the second oldest ball park in all of baseball, to Fenway Park home of the Boston Red Sox since 1912.

Wrigley is famous for its Ivory walls located in the outfield. As the season progresses, the Ivory further grows in and many baseball have been lost in the Ivy patches. This has resulted in many hits being ruled as ground rule doubles. The Ivy is from Boston and was first planted by then Cubs general manager Bill Veeck in 1937.

Further, Wrigley along with Fenway are the only two ball parks in which the scoreboard is turned by hand rather than via computer. Also, the Cubs ownership refused to put in night lights until the 1988 season, making it rather difficult to have night games.

Umpire Effect On Totals

Ever since it was created in the middle of the 1980s, handicappers have been betting on over/under totals. Over the last decade MLB betting has increasingly factored in the home plate umpire’s effect on totals in a game. Home plate umpires have two types of strike zones wide and narrow. Depending on which type of strike zone an umpire is using can have a significant impact on the total number of runs going over or under the predicted score by sportsbooks and bookies.

A narrow strike zone is one which benefits the hitter, as the margin for error is so little, that one bad pitch could lead to a walk or a hit. On the other hand a wide strike zone is one that benefits the pitcher, because a ball that hits the outside corner and would otherwise be considered a ball is now a strike. Basically, a narrow strike zone would cause the totals to go over while the wider strike zone would cause the totals to go under.

For example in 2006, 24 umpires led by veteran Mike Everett saw 60 percent of the games they called go over the total. Everett alone had 22 of a possible 34 games behind home plate go over the total. Yet in 2007, when Everett worked behind home plate, only 13 of his games went over the total while 18 went under.

Also in 2007, 14 of the 23 other umpires who saw their totals go over in 2006 saw games go under same as Everett in 2007. Nevertheless, the other nine umpires in that 23 total, saw the results from 2007 remain the same as 2006.

When factoring in the umpires effect on totals prior to making a wager, many bettors would have won over 280 wagers in 2007 while losing 284. It appears that the influence of umpires was rather insignificant in 2007. This can be credited too batters and pitchers making adjustments to get the results they want when the specific umpire is behind the plate.

Good Luck / Bad Luck Pitchers

Baseball betting fans have come to realize over the years that the game is as much about luck as it is about skill. Ever wonder how that pitcher with such a high earned run average can win 10 to 12 games while a pitcher who continuously pitches gems wins only eight or nine? Well when MLB betting you can always be sure that luck will play a crucial role in the outcome of a game.

Sometimes luck can be so cruel. For instance, on the Kansas City Royals, last year’s CY Young winner Zach Greinke, known as one of the best pitchers in baseball is sporting a five and 11 record with a 3.94 ERA while teammate Brian Bannister is sporting a 10 – eight record with an ERA around six.

For all intents and purposes, good luck pitchers are those defined as giving up at least five runs a game, while still managing to pick up a victory. Conversely a bad luck pitcher is one that continuously shows strong efforts but ends up on the wrong end of the stick. In the example above Bannister would be a good luck pitcher while Greinke would be a bad luck pitcher. Here is how to bet on both forms of pitchers.

As a fan and a bettor you want to see good luck pitchers get what is coming to them. By betting against a good luck pitcher you are expecting them to lose. In order for this type of bet to work, you need to look at a minimum of three of the pitcher’s next starts. From there you would wager on him to lose each game or up until he does lose. Then you would move on to a different good luck pitcher.

Conversely, when betting with a bad luck pitcher, you are wagering on that pitcher to win their next start. To cushion yourself, you would commit to wagering on this pitcher for up to three starts or until they win. After they finally win, you would then move on to another bad luck pitcher.

First Inning Bets

As a result of baseball games being nine innings long, many of the best online sportsbooks have created in play bets in which fans can bet on individual innings such as the first. The first inning bet is one similar to that of the over under total wager. In which fans guess on whether the final score will be higher or lower than the predicted total number of runs by the sportsbook. The difference with first inning bets is that your goal as a bettor is to guess whether a run will be scored or not be scored.

One important factor to take into account when wagering on the first inning is who the starting pitchers are. As well you should also consider which teams are playing. For instance, if a pitcher with a high earned run average is pitching against a team that ranks higher up in the offensive categories, then you may feel safer betting on a run being scored. Conversely, if a team with a middle of the pack offense is facing the ace of a rotation you may feel better wagering on a run not being given up.

Although first inning bets are similar to totals, sportsbooks require bettors to wager in a similar fashion to that of the money line. For the bettor who believes a run will be scored, they are asked to risk a higher amount then that of a bettor who believes no runs will be scored. Here is how it looks:

Will a run be scored in the first inning?

Yes – 120

No – 110

As portrayed in the example, fans are required to wager on a 30 cent line, which provides two positives for them. Firstly, by betting on a 30 cent line, bettors have the ability to choose games in which they have the best value odds. Secondly, because we are betting on the start of the game, if we bet a run to not be scored we have an advantage, because the sportsbook slants the odds to benefit the no side as a result of having confidence in the starting pitcher.

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