Last year's NL East race turned into a runaway when the New York Mets hit their well documented second half collapse. Philadelphia's half-game lead at the All-Star Break steadily grew as the Metropolitans ultimately yielded their wild card berth to the Cincinnati Reds, possibly sparing themselves from a postseason defeat…
Back to the normal mid-week spot for this week's Breakdown although the rare weekend handicap actually came through without much sweat. The first five inning route was slightly less profitable than going with the full game though. Regardless, the MLB Morning Breakdown for 6-25-2025 heads west to Petco Park for…
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…
If the final month of last year's race is any indication of what's in store, the NL East is going to be one of the better showdowns in the MLB. Philadelphia, New York, and Atlanta stand at the head of the class with odds to win the division at 2/1…
The sloppy show in Cincinnati soured Baltimore's rocking chair winner Saturday afternoon. Being risk averse helped in that case, though getting involved in what turned out to be a messy one is another story altogether. A productive opening weekend left us ready to tackle a meaty Monday slate that is…
Opening Day is in the books and what a ride Thursday's 4:00 window was. The excitement and the sweats that came with it force me to remind myself that we're only 12 wagers into a 400-600 wager season! With yesterday afternoon's pair of rescheduled games wrapping up unfinished business, the…
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…
A ho-hum week and choppy weekend right aligned well with the dog days of summer while leaving me in the game with an interesting Monday slate ahead. As July comes to a close, it drags along with it the MLB trade deadline where hopeful contenders pair up with sellers to…
Indecision on my part with Wednesday's Jays/White Sox game simply did not matter as Chicago succumbed to another day getting pounded by rain. Today I'll shift gears to a conflict between the market and my numbers that has me locked up this morning. The issue is whether to do something…
Handicapping on a daily basis is a challenge that I've loved tackle for a long time now. Choosing which ones to headline a few days a week in the Breakdown has been the tough part so far in 2023. Saturday was no different. My reliance on Houston's bullpen and defense…
Thursday's short MLB slate kept me on the sidelines after a nice Wednesday run featuring the under in Detroit. Three weeks into the season and some teams have shown their true colors while others are still beating around the bush. That makes for very interesting early season handicapping! After a…
I guess playing the bullpen volatility game was the move after all. Lack of execution squandered a shot at sneaking away with the D-backs first 5 innings team total. That was extra frustrating since Darvish was expectedly ripe for the picking. In a Groundhog Day scenario I would bet the…
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 The MLB Morning Breakdown for 5-14-2022 drops late this morning off of a disappointing loss with the Orioles. Disappointing not so much in Eduardo Rodriguez' good outing but with Baltimore leaving the bases loaded in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings. The O's 14 men left on base is…
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…
After yesterday's outbreak of low scoring games we had to put our research team of Yanni and D-Nice on the case. They've run multiple statistical analyses and made the executive decision to bet the under in every MLB game today. This should be interesting. As for me, I'm ready to…
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…
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…
Despite the best-laid plans, Washington swung for the fences and kept falling short Sunday afternoon. That matchup against a lefty who is prone to getting knocked around was juicy but the results did not manifest. I'll be completely honest and say that was a very disappointing outcome. Realistically, though, not…
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…
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.…
After a weekend on the road and Monday back in the office, the MLB Morning Breakdown for 4-13-2021 is back! I broadened Sunday's card to four plays, but the Tigers fell just short of delivering a nice payday. Looks like they were the play last night though. I need to…
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 do all of my MLB handicapping early morning before heading to the office, so I often miss out on several games that are not on the board. I can be proactive at times when the starters are known and create a line range in which I would make a…
We cracked a six pack of plays Saturday and I've gotta tell you, somebody must have shaken those cans up really good. The Yankees waited until the 7th inning to break a scoreless deadlock and eventually cover the +105 run line. But the second slug of games saw a stellar…