When it comes to last year's preseason expectations, the NL East showed tremendous strength with four of its five teams ultimately exceeding their win totals. The debacle in Queens stood as the lone exception. That's a whole other story onto itself. Marginal clubs like the Marlins and Nationals finished the…
An uneventful start to the betting week leads into a low-volume Wednesday with just a pair of wagers in hand this morning. I'll take what the slate gives me as the season rolls along with less than two weeks before the All-Star Break. After splitting Friday night's featured handicaps, it's…
After three straight dropped solo shot features, a winning Thursday was just what the doctor ordered. Since those three positions were the only wagers on Thursday's personal betting card the Rays' big 5th inning was a breath of fresh air. That and fixing what made our website go rogue made…
We made it through the offseason. We made it through six grueling Divisional Previews. Now it's showtime. Shameless plug: visit our MLB page to check out the six preview articles and futures positions. March 30th is in sight and we have your 2023 Opening Day handicapping covered with a quick…
There was certainly something about the East divisions last year as the American League and National League versions each sent three representatives to the playoffs. Yet it was the NL side's representative that had enough left in tank to reach the sport's biggest stage. Even though Philadelphia fell just short,…
JJ@BC With just one week left before leaving the country, it's almost like I'm in one of those money booths with cash swirling around. How much can I grab before the thing shuts off and my 10-day hiatus kicks in? While I joke, my MLB betting has maintained a positive…
JJ@BC Many thanks to Big Tasty for hosting our five-game Friday night livestream breakdown. And give a tip of the cap to Tasty for his call on the Texas Rangers - at my expense, mind you! Still, Friday & Saturday treated us decently despite the Astros setback so we roll…
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, especially those who gave birth to the nightmare known as The BetCrushers Team. Especially the mothers of our wives who keep us in check. Speaking of keeping in check, we skated by with the Rays first 5 inning wager while cruising…
I saved the best for last. The World Series Champion Atlanta Braves brought the hardware back to the NL East after a slow start to the season. It was impressively opposite of the Mets' summer swoon that landed them with a below-.500 record behind the sneaky Phillies. There's a ton…
An insane flurry of activity leading up to Friday afternoon's trade deadline kicked off a big weekend of baseball action as the gap between the haves and have-nots expectedly grew wider. My request for runs from the Detroit Tigers that same evening went unfulfilled as Matt Harvey kept his streak…
At least some folks know how to bet my handicaps properly. It was good to hear that a number of our crew laid the hook with Houston on the first 5 inning side as opposed to me laying the -1. While I pushed, folks like my BetCrushers partner Yanni, D-Nice…
All it took was the cliched one swing of the bat from Atlanta's starting pitcher Huascar Ynoa to break the Braves/Nationals game wide open. As for yesterday's featured play - Ynoa not only held the Nats in check at the plate, he crushed a grand slam in the top of…
Let's call a spade a spade - I've fallen back in a small slump with my featured handicaps. At least there was no sweating it last night as I was deep asleep while the Blue Jays coughed up a lead to the A's in the bottom of the 5th. So…
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…
After Tuesday's quick in-and-out solo shot on the Nationals/Cardinals first 5 inning position, it's time to stretch out the playbook in the MLB Morning Breakdown for 4-14-2021. And that play was quick because the Cardinals pounded Strasburg for 4 runs in the 3rd and a ton more in the 5th.…
The Braves' punctuated the 2020 season with their third straight and 15th overall NL East title. Atlanta's impressive young nucleus gives the impression of a club building their way towards a dynasty like that of the late 1990's. On the flip side, the 2019 World Series Champion Washington Nationals was…
Going into the 2019 season, expectations were high in the NL East, where all but one team had season win totals of 85 or higher. Even more impressively, three of those four actually exceeded their totals. Your World Series Champions, the Washington Nationals, cleared their total with a second-half surge…
I sat Tuesday out from MLB wagering as the betting slate showed me nothing appetizing to bite on. Instead, I gave a quick overview of a couple key matchups I am exploring for this weekend's NASCAR Cup Foxwoods Casino 301 at New Hampshire. Our team has also been grinding on…
San Francisco's offense is a bit of a head scratcher. When you put it in the context of a full MLB season, hot or cold streaks for teams, offenses, pitchers, etc. are just a routine part of the 162-game grind. Tyler Beede did a phenomenal job of scratching out nearly…
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…
If you laid the juice on the Dodgers last night, you cashed. If you're a sucker like me and played the run line with Hyun-Jin Ryu on the mound, then you're out of luck. The Dodgers had plenty of opportunities to do more damage against Quintana but did not convert.…
I have to admit that when Lucas Giolito gave up a 1st inning solo shot to Luke Voit last night, my first thought was how Giolito has truly been due for a dud outing. Then CC Sabathia took the mound and my impression of the game quickly changed back to…
Some days it just ain't in the cards. Wednesday was one of those days for my handicapping, most notably in Colorado where the Rockies were dominated by the Cubs. Senzatela laid one of his eggs and Hamels pulled an impressive outing out of the jaws of a 1st inning bases-loaded…
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…
Friday's 2 plays were a...you guessed it: a split. 1-1 on the day (-0.04 units) moves the week to 3-4 for -0.95 units. The weak link was St. Louis. I tried to buck the Cardinals slump off a day of rest with the Braves coming into town after a 13-inning…
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…
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'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…
Yesterday's four pack of plays went a disappointing 1-3 for a loss of 2 units. Trevor Bauer was not sharp against the Tigers in the first play of the day. Boyd got a lot of weak contact from the Tribe and sealed the deal rather easily. Tampa was chomping at…
Saturday's 1-3 run line result was less than great, skimming 1.55 units from the season total that now sits at -0.93 units. Cardinals, Phillies, and Angels were poised to return midrange plus-money payouts but only LA got the money. All of the run line losses were straight up losses, so…
Tonight's Final Four action is sure to capture the attention of many bettors, and rightly so. As you'd expect, I've got MLB in my crosshairs. Friday's 2-1 on run line plays got me back in the black for the season, yielding +1.65 units for a +0.62-unit advantage since Opening Day.…
Some things don't go according to plan. Yesterday's 1-3 (-1.95 units) result was a good example, bringing the season net down to -1.03 units. Yet again, the Oakland A's were a bright spot on my betting card. A sloppy start for the A's transitioned over to the Sox, who gave…