I've slacked lately with getting handicaps out and definitely regret not having the time yesterday morning to break down a pair of really good pitching matchups out West. And, no, my absence has nothing to do with being on the wrong side of San Francisco's "historic" 11th inning last Tuesday.…
This week's fresh slate of series features nine divisional showdowns and a couple top starting pitcher matchups. We'll pass on the Webb/Pivetta pairing in San Diego but dive into a good one in Philadelphia for our featured handicap. It's a great place to start off the MLB Morning Breakdown for…
Rain stuck around a little longer than expected Saturday in Boston, postponing our feature and creating a Sunday doubleheader that pushed the Red Sox into second place in the AL East. The MLB Morning Breakdown for 4-7-2025 heads to the desert where the last place Orioles and .500 Diamondbacks look…
For better or worse, late inning drama was everywhere on Opening Day. It was certainly instrumental in getting the two positions in our post to the pay window. The over in Kansas City was all but shriveled up on the vine until the 8th run came across in the final…
The Dodgers' stranglehold on the NL West continued with an eleventh division title in the last twelve seasons. This time, however, the big payoff came to fruition. After two postseason runs stopped dead in their tracks by division foes, Los Angeles fought through a feisty Padres squad and the OMG…
Last year I asked whether there were enough cracks in L.A.'s armor to unseat them from the NL West throne. The answer was a resounding "no". But things quickly went downhill once the postseason rolled around. Ironically, the Dodgers' early exit came at the hands of no other than the…
The MLB Morning Breakdown for 4-10-2023 is back after an Easter weekend hiatus...and a dud of a featured handicap on Friday. After spending 8 hours on the highway only to watch the White Sox crumble in Pittsburgh - good thing long term, bad thing for that particular wager - an…
We needed runs in Cincinnati last night and boy did we get them. Throw a couple of guys out there who struggled all spring and those lineups took batting practice for a good hour or so in Cincinnati. Hey, whatever it takes to get an easy winner after plenty of…
From a win total futures betting perspective, the NL West joined the AL Central as sweet spots for the bankroll last fall. The Dodgers could not be stopped while the Giants fell off a cliff once May rolled around. But Los Angeles and their MLB-leading 111 wins couldn't keep them…
Saturday's look at Mitch Keller's sinker paid some dividends in an interesting way to play what turned out to be a pitchers' duel in Pittsburgh. Today we stay focused on starting pitching with young starting pitchers who are steadily moving forward in their major league career progressions. So let's head…
The MLB Morning Breakdown for 6-25-2022 gets me back in the writing game after a week away from the keyboard. What can I say...when the day job has a firm grip on your throat, you have to buckle down and TCB. Not that my betting results have been anything to…
Don't you love it when a plan comes together? Many thanks to Big Tasty for sparing me from writing yesterday morning by bringing me on his show. It was a good time breaking down five games on the Sunday slate - two of which we took positions on, yielding a…
It's a good day for a Friday edition of the MLB Morning Breakdown for 4-22-2022 fresh off back-to-back feature winners. That may be a low bar, but it's my bar and the money is moving in the right direction after two weeks into the season. Carlos Carrasco's 7.2-inning gem got…
I'd say that the San Diego Padres made the under a little more interesting than it needed to be. But a win's a win - even if it was just a half-unit total. On that note, the MLB Morning Breakdown for 4-21-2022 comes at you super early due to a…
A run in the 9th sinks the Colorado under while the Mets and Marlins fuel a winning day - one that made up for Thursday's loss and adds more ammo to the bankroll. But that could be all for not as I load 'em up with a three-play Saturday in…
The Gausman-Severino main event in the Bronx proved to be quite the pitching duel amongst two high-powered offenses last night. The Jays first 5 inning position also proved to be an L for us, but at least one of the half-unit variety. Lineup uncertainty led to my limited exposure early…
It's time, boys and girls. For a while there looked to be no end in sight for the winter lockout. And here we are: Opening Day. I'm pumped to get things going with Opening Day 2022 handicapping for the remaining seven games on Thursday's slate. For our new followers -…
When it came to taking down one of the toughest divisions in the majors, San Francisco defied the odds and showed that old dudes can still get it done. Out of nowhere, the Giants - not the Padres - disrupted the Dodgers' eight-year reign over the NL West. But the…
Yesterday's solo shot with the Astros was mostly successful as the first 5 inning money line pushes on a 5th inning explosion by both clubs. Fenway looked awfully small last night - which was good, all things considered. That said, I have to head out early for a golf outing,…
The MLB Morning Breakdown for 6-2-2021 is back after Monday's excused absence and yesterday's I'd rather sleep in after a long weekend unexcused absence. But I'm up early today and we move on to Wednesday's action on the diamond. So without further delay, let's dig into Wednesday's solo shot. NOTE:…
The MLB Morning Breakdown for 5-30-2021 comes to you on the heels of a...cancelled Blue Jays bet. I knew that weather was going to be a factor in Saturday's game at Progressive Field - but not quite like that. Now I throw a couple of my personal rules aside to…
The MLB Morning Breakdown for 5-11-2021 returns after a one-day hiatus due in part to a lackluster Monday MLB slate. I left off with a dud from the Miami Marlins' offense on Sunday despite Sandy Alcantara's fantastic outing. Between Daniel Vogelbach's scorching line drive homer and Miami getting picked off…
JJ the Ice Man nearly squashed the Athletics 11-game win streak with my greedy money line/run line play. But Cole Irvin worked his magic to escape a couple jams posed by the Orioles and get us the money. That 3-1 win was crucial considering how one of my nemesis, Luke…
Baseball is a game of sequencing. Offenses need to string together hits and walks to convert baserunners into runs. Batteries must sequence pitches to set up batters for optimal results. And handicappers like us have to get ahead of angles to capitalize on attackable prices. I am taking my lumps…
The MLB Morning Breakdown for 4-18-2021 comes to you fresh off of what turned out to be a near push on Saturday. Oh, my Cincinnati Reds - they sure looked like the 2020 version yesterday afternoon. Granted, tons of credit goes to Triston McKenzie for working his way out of…
Another NL West title for the Dodgers. This time, however, Los Angeles was not denied the franchise's seventh World Series Championship. Six months earlier, there was plenty of optimism to go around the division. Arizona was positioned to build on a gritty 2019 season while San Diego looked the part…
In 2019, the Los Angeles Dodgers were crowned kings of the National League West for the seventh year in a row. Given this juggernaut, few people expected the division to be competitive despite San Diego making an offseason splash by signing monster free agent Manny Machado. Regardless, consensus gave Colorado…
As you can see from the header post, it's deja vu all over again. After last night's late-inning blowout of the Mets, the price to back Atlanta continues to balloon as they continue their hot streak. Oh wait, they're the dog tonight? More on that later. Atlanta's convincing 12-3 win…
Monday's 1-1 split marked the third straight day with such a record. However, yesterday's split earned +1.26 units because of Texas' big +226 underdog win in 11 innings. As ho-hum as last week ended, this one began with a bang. As noted yesterday, Mike Minor was poised to keep the…
Saturday started strong with an Arizona shutout and ended with a disappointing display from the Rockies. Colorado had their opportunities but Steven Matz went deep into the pitch count and struck out 10 with his nasty curve and pinpoint fastballs. On the flip side, Zack Greinke squashed the Jays offense…
Although close doesn't pay, Friday's two plays damn near got there but fell short. It cost me 2.16 units and took the week down to 3-4 for -1.02 units though. Either way would have been a loss, but I avoided a Nationals bullpen meltdown by taking the first 5 inning…
The Orioles proved to be an unlikely hero for me last night, amazingly winning both the F5 and full game underdog wagers against the Giants. A wacky 1st inning saw the Giants put up 5 in their half and the Orioles with 6 in the bottom. You could call it…
When the boys in the AL West get together, you better buckle up because their games don't land smoothly! Sitting on Oakland and Texas tickets yesterday, I knew this going into those games and certainly got my money's worth! After a Cincinnati beatdown, a split on my AL West tickets…
Sunday wrapped up a down week with a 2-1 record that netted +1.00 units, despite going 6-8 for -2.11 in week 8. At week's end, the season tally stands at -0.49 units. Not where we want to be by any stretch of the imagination but a down April is being…
At least there's the Twins. Their 8-1 dismantling of the White Sox easily covered the run line and provided the lone W yesterday. Cincinnati gave it a good run as a +137 dog but fell short as the game got late. Rangers/Angels was a pitchers duel that went down to…
So I made no progress on my run line bet approach research last night. And the way this week's work schedule looks, this project may end up taking place on my flight down to BetCrushers HQ Friday evening. What better way to spend a couple hours on a plane than…
The complexion of the 145th Run for the Roses has changed considerably in the past week. First, favorite Omaha Beach gets scratched. Now the weather looks to be a big factor at Churchill Downs. Regardless of the track conditions or how stacked the field is, Derby Day is a traditional…
Day ball was kind to me on Thursday as the Twins and Rockies jumped out to early leads and never coughed them up. The 2-0 result pushes the week 5 record to 5-3 for a +2.58 unit net. Reads on starting pitchers are getting sharper and the team profiles are…
Tonight's action ushers out a tumultuous month of April with a full slate of games. I took one shot on Monday; a road dog play on the Oakland A's. The A's knocked Rodriguez around well in the 2nd, but Boston took advantage of a muffed inning-ending double play in the…
Saturday's plays involved a four-pack of home teams headlined by the Toronto Blue Jays. They've owned the A's so far this season, notching their 5th win against Oakland in as many games. All the buzz has been around Vlad Jr. this weekend but he was essentially a non-factor in their…
The Nationals did it. They lost to the Padres as -200 favorites in their first game after finishing a series in Colorado. Even with a day of rest, the Rocky Mountain Hangover claims its 4th victim in as many situations. There wasn't much to this theory in 2018 (teams went…
It's amazing to think that the MLB season is still young despite being in its 4th full week. Teams are starting to develop their identities, some of which we already knew about while others have been a bit of a surprise. For the most part, I have shed my pre-season…
After the "gut punch" Monday that saw a Pittsburgh collapse and an Angels letdown in 14, the past couple days have each been 2-2 chops. The major benefit of playing plus-money wagers is that these chop days still add a few bucks to the accounts. Nothing major to speak of,…
Yesterday, my guys on the BetCrushers team said they don't subscribe to the "this game's a lock" mentality but that we would all be disappointed if the 2 tickets didn't cash. Well, they didn't cash. So consider me very disappointed. An 0-2 night shaved 2.1 units off the bankroll and…
Yesterday's 5 plays started with a dud and ended on the west coast with 3 very disappointing outcomes. The 1-4 result cost -2.65 units and was the most costly day of the young season. In fact, this week has been a gut punch on the run line, shedding 8.1 units…
A ride with the Phillies on the run line for their 3rd straight game results in another loss with that squad. Spoiler alert: I'm not on Philly this evening. That being said, Monday was a one-play day that knocks us back to -0.63 units on the season. Bouncing around the…