How Important Is A Good Bullpen To Your MLB Betting System?
When it comes to sports betting on the MLB, bettors often break down each team into the most essential part to success followed by the least essential. For all intents and purposes, a good pitching rotation is only half of the puzzle, as the most important aspect of a team’s success is a good to excellent bullpen. Historically, some of the worst teams in baseball have caught fire in the playoffs, despite a poor offense and awful rotation, because their bullpens have been incredible. Here is an online betting guide to the importance of a good bullpen.
The old adage in sports is that a good defense outweighs a good offense and eventually wins championships. In baseball, a good bullpen outweighs a good offense, because the team that gets more outs wins the ball game. Statistically speaking, a good bullpen can contribute to 70 percent of their team’s winning percentage. That means, if your MLB blogs favorite team ranks near the bottom of the standings, it is because the bullpen is not very good.
But what do you look for when trying to find the best bullpen to handicap? The bullpen is all about matchups, whether it be different situations in the game, or different batters the manager wants to face. Typically, a bullpen is made up of eight pitchers, two long men, a lefty specialist, several righties that can pitch to lefties and righties, then a set up man and closer. Of the eight relievers, the setup man is the most important, as he is the second last line of defense. For all intents and purposes, most teams are going with two set up men, but some still only use one. The set up man comes in for the eighth inning either to hold the lead with the closer coming in to finish things off, or to keep the game a tie, so that his team can take the lead then the closer finishes the game off. A team with a good set up man or set up men can experience more success then a team with no defined roles.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 08 May 2012 15:43How Important Is A Closer To Your MLB Betting Profits?
The 2012 MLB season is underway and already fans, media and Bodog handicappers alike are looking at ways to improve their profit line. Baseball is the longest of the four major sports leagues, as the 162 game season literally allows for someone who was in debt to make a profit by seasons end. Today we will be looking at how important a closer is to the success or demise of your wager. Sometimes all it takes is a good closer for your odds to increase.
On paper, you can never underestimate the importance of a bullpen. Say what you will about hitting and starting pitching, but a good bullpen and in particular a good closer is absolutely integral to your budget. For instance, the reason so many sharp bettors take the New York Yankees is because closer Mariano Rivera only blows two or three saves an entire season. Conversely, so many handicappers fade the Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros, because they’re bullpens are the lowest in the MLB blogs standings. As well, Baltimore and Houston closers combine to average less than Mariano Rivera in saves, as an entire team.
What this tells us, is that if a team’s bullpen and in particular their closer has a really high earned run average, then you should fade them. For those new to baseball handicapping, fading means betting against them. In 2006, the teams with the best bullpens also worked out to be the most profitable on the betting line. The correlation we could see is that a good bullpen had better odds of locking up a win, then a middle of the pack or bad bullpen. For instance, the Minnesota Twins led the MLB with the best bullpen, which translated to +2415 in units won by bettors.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 20:21MLB Early Season Betting Tips
We are less than two weeks into the 2012 baseball season, and already casual handicappers are wondering why Bodog does not adjust their lines. Essentially, like any good sportsbook, the bookies at Bodog, understand, that it is far too early to make any rash decisions. Instead, as so many handicappers and top sportsbooks do at this point, Bodog is taking a wait and see approach to early season success. Today, we will be looking at a few tips to capping your favorite team in the first part of the season.
Firstly, take a look at the standings right now, and see how they compare to August of last season. What you will notice right away, is that teams that end up in last place, are taking advantage of the slow starts of powerhouse teams. For example, the Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros have two of the best records through the first four games of the season. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox each have yet to win a game. For the Yankees, they face Baltimore starting tonight, and should collect their first wins of the MLB season. On the other hand, if you believe the media hype, the Red Sox could end up losing their first six games of the season for the second year in a row, after they are done with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Another tip is to keep track of all the teams finding early season success. While teams such as Houston and Baltimore are historically awful, as the season progresses, a team such as Toronto or the New York Mets could be providing their fan base with optimism. For this reason, avoid betting on Toronto and the Mets until the 50th game of the season, as that is enough of a sample size to make a decision. If either team is still finding success after game 50, place your money on them accordingly.
MLB Early Season Betting Tips
We are less than two weeks into the 2012 baseball season, and already casual handicappers are wondering why Bodog does not adjust their lines. Essentially, like any good sportsbook, the bookies at Bodog, understand, that it is far too early to make any rash decisions. Instead, as so many handicappers and top sportsbooks do at this point, Bodog is taking a wait and see approach to early season success. Today, we will be looking at a few tips to capping your favorite team in the first part of the season.
Firstly, take a look at the standings right now, and see how they compare to August of last season. What you will notice right away, is that teams that end up in last place, are taking advantage of the slow starts of powerhouse teams. For example, the Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros have two of the best records through the first four games of the season. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox each have yet to win a game. For the Yankees, they face Baltimore starting tonight, and should collect their first wins of the MLB season. On the other hand, if you believe the media hype, the Red Sox could end up losing their first six games of the season for the second year in a row, after they are done with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Another tip is to keep track of all the teams finding early season success. While teams such as Houston and Baltimore are historically awful, as the season progresses, a team such as Toronto or the New York Mets could be providing their fan base with optimism. For this reason, avoid betting on Toronto and the Mets until the 50th game of the season, as that is enough of a sample size to make a decision. If either team is still finding success after game 50, place your money on them accordingly.
MLB Futures Who Will Win 2012 World Series?
In two weeks from today, the MLB will be back in action, as the 2012 season gets underway. For all of your baseball betting odds, click here. The 2012 MLB season is considered by many to be the first of a new era, as the commissioner’s office created a second wild card for both the American and National Leagues this season. On paper, the addition of a new wild card means that teams that maybe didn’t stand a chance under the old format, now do. With this being the case, here is a March Madness betting preview of who the team’s with the best odds to win the World Series are.
One team that was originally a favorite, but was dealt a huge blow, is the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds spent the offseason acquiring pitching help, as they trade a slew of top prospects to the San Diego Padres, for their ace, Matt Latos. Then, the Reds went out and signed former Philadelphia Phillies closer Ryan Madson to a one year contract. The latter move signaled, that the Reds were only content on an MLB World Series title or the season would be a bust. However, as luck would have it, Madson blew out his elbow last week, and will miss the season due to Tommy John Surgery. This in turn has dealt the Reds futures odds a lengthy blow, as they went from 12 to one to 20 to one.
Another team to keep your eyes on this season is the Philadelphia Phillies themselves. With odds of 11 to two, the Phillies have a few question marks as we edge closer to the season. Firstly, can the trio of Halladay, Lee, and Hamels continue to carry the team while the offense finds its groove? Secondly, with Chase Utley and Ryan Howard not expected to join the lineup until early May, will the Phillies still be able to contend for a World Series?
Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 March 2012 13:40
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