Examining Starting Pitchers
When looking at the wide array of variables within MLB betting, one overlooked variable is the starting pitcher. Annually handicapper’s baseball betting online struggle to break even by year’s end, because they forgot to examine which starting pitcher was in each game. As a result, bettors end up with an overall betting percentage of below 50 percent. If they had just taken an extra hour a day to go over each pitcher’s statistics they may have a better winning percentage by year’s end.
For every position in the MLB there are over 10 statistics associated with that position. Starting pitchers are no different, as when you track them you have to take into account win/ loss record, earned run average, WHIP, and innings pitched to name a few. Today we look at the one statistic that is always ignored but actually affects you the bettor, team’s record in games started. In essence, this statistic gives starting pitchers the win or the loss regardless if they are a factor in the final result of the game. For example if Shaun Marcum of the Toronto Blue Jays starts a game and leaves with an eight to three lead, and then the bullpen blows the lead and the Jays lose 10 to eight, Marcum gets credited with the loss instead of the no decision.
The TRGS statistic is a better indicator of a team’s success as many a time you will see a starter’s win loss record be similar to that of the TRGS. For instance, commonly you will see a healthy pitcher accumulate a win – loss record of 15 wins 10 losses but a TRGS record of 19 wins and 13 losses. Meaning to say in games in which he got the no decision, his team won 19 and lost 13.
Citi Field Profile Vitals:
Location: 126th street & Roosevelt Avenue, Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York Opened: April 13th 2009 Owner: New York Mets Construction Cost: $900 Million Architect: Populous Capacity: 41,800 After a historical tenure at Shea Stadium, the New York Mets and baseball betting fans around the league, moved to Citi Field in 2009. Citi Field is located at the adjacent corner to Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York. The new stadium is now the home to future hall of famers Johan Santana, Francisco Rodriguez and Jason Bay. So far in the early season MLB betting on the Mets has been quite enjoyable when visiting Citi Field, as the team has enjoyed a rather successful home record. From April to June, the Mets were able to reel off 27 wins at home, a record in all of baseball. Aside from being the home turf of the New York Mets baseball franchise, Citi Field was bought and funded by the Citi Financial Group in 2006. The owners setup a payment system in which ball park was bought with New York City municipal bonds. Payments of the bonds include a lot of interest and offset the property taxes enforced by the city of New York. Meaning to say that when fans and citizens alike buy municipal bonds, they in effect own the Mets. Although Citi Field is the home of the Mets, the right field corner is known as Utley’s Corner. Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies, a divisional rival of the Mets, hit three home runs in two games during a three game set in the end of June 2009. All three home runs went into the right corner at Citi and have since been named after Utley. As well, on Jackie Robinson day in 2009, the Mets created the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. The Rotunda is located in the front entrance of Citi Field and includes a statue of Robinson and large stone engravings of Robinson’s values. Betting The First Five Innings
For instance, fans who bet on the first half of a baseball game when a workhorse pitcher such as the Phillies ace Roy Halladay pitches, can almost certainly guarantee a win for that half. Conversely a team such as the Houston Astros, who are the worst team in baseball, may be better to wager against in the first half of a game. Also, when fans bet the road team it is wiser to take them in the first half of the game. The belief behind this is that if a road team faces a home favorite, the road team’s best opportunity to win the game is to strike early. On the other hand, the home favorite is believed to be able to win the overall game, because they have the last at bat of the game and can win it in the bottom of the ninth if need be. Further, as we noted above, one should always keep track of who is pitching and how they have fared in their previous starts. For a team such as the Astros it is rare that their starters make it to the fifth inning, and thus the bullpens get overworked. As a result, fans betting against a team such as the Astros can expect to go over the totals in the first half of games. |
Busch Stadium Profile
Location: 700 Clark Street, St. Louis Missouri Opened: April 10, 2006 Owner: St. Louis Cardinals Architect: Populous Capacity: 46,861 Baseball betting fans have come to enjoy watching games at Busch Stadium III since its inception in 2006. When betting online for a World Series winner, one should note that the Cardinals are one of only a handful of teams to have both entered a new ball park and won the World Series in the same year. In 2006 after a dismal regular season, the Cardinals were able to capture their 10th title in the team’s long history. On April 10, 2006 the Cardinals won the first game at the new Busch Stadium III after defeating the Milwaukee Brewers on the backs of star pitcher Mark Mulder and superstar first baseman Albert Pujols. Since that time Pujols has continuously produced monster numbers for the Busch Stadium III faithful, while Mulder has battled injury. Busch Stadium III is the third Busch Stadium since 1953. It is named after 1950s owner Gussie Busch. The ball park is the only version which has not been used for football. As well although Busch Stadium did not start construction until 2004, planning for the new ball park had started in the middle of the 1990s. Aside from the World Series in 2006, which saw the Cardinals win three of their four games at Busch Stadium, the Cards have had little success come playoff time. In 2009, Busch Stadium was home for one game against the LA Dodgers, in which the Dodgers were able to clinch the series in a four game sweep. Also Busch Stadium III has a statue of Cardinals legend Stan “the man” Musial outside of the front entrance way. During the 2006 run to the World Series, many fans were seen climbing a top the statue in celebration. Betting Big Baseball Favorites
Sports betting fans new to baseball, can find out which teams are the big favorites to win games by looking at the money lines for the day’s games. Most big betting favorites are easy to pick out, as the money line will read them as a – 200 favorite. Occasionally the schedule works out so that two or three of the top teams in the league will face two or three of the worst teams in the league, and thus this results in a money line of – 200 or higher. Also this can occur if one team has dominated another team that season. For instance, although neither team is having the success they would like, the Toronto Blue Jays have decimated the Baltimore Orioles this year winning all 12 contests the two teams have played. As a result, through this most recent series in which going in the Jays had won nine in a row against the Orioles, the Jays were favored the whole series – 200. Now although they were such high favorites, many bettors may have avoided this series altogether because of the teams involved. However if you were willing to risk $200 to get back $100 per game this series, you would have become $300 richer. When wagering on big baseball favorites, it is important to factor in the top teams overall win percentage. For example, the Chicago White Sox from 2005 to 2008 maintained the best overall winning percentage in the league by winning at a point 800 clip. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Royals since 2005 have continued to win at a measly point 391 clip. Basically this statistic informs us that when these two teams are playing, fans choosing the White Sox will most likely have to bet at a – 200 or greater money line.
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