The MLB Betting Market through 5/9: May 10th 2010

Handicappers Picks

May 10, 2010

If you look at baseball betting as if it were the stock market, here’s a look at what we’re buying and selling through another week of play on the diamond.

Bullish Squads
Toronto Blue Jays (6-1, +$695): Toronto went on the road this week and came up with aces, sweeping Cleveland and taking three out of four from Chicago. CF Vernon Wells has reached base safely in eight straight games. In the series at US Cellular Field, he batted 8/17 (.471) with three runs, three extra base hits, a dinger, four RBIs, and two walks, raising his batting average to .339 on the season.

TOP NEWS

Milwaukee Brewers (5-1, +$550): The Brew Crew have suddenly come alive on the road, plating 51 runs over the L/6 days and finishing up what originally started to shape up as a disaster of a road trip at 6-4 overall and 5-1 in their L/6. MLB betting fans will love the fact that Milwaukee has started to rip the ball, as it is averaging 5.77 runs per game, the second highest mark in the bigs. That helps make up for a staff that has a woeful 4.76 ERA.

Bearish Squads
Florida Marlins (1-6, -$503): The Fish have been rotten this week, to say the least. Going into Washington and dropping two out of three on the heels of getting swept by San Francisco at home doesn’t bode well for a team that really hoped to compete this year. Florida is already five games out of first place in the NL East, and without the staff improving its 4.21 team ERA, this isn’t a club that is digging out of this hole any time soon.

Seattle Mariners (1-5, -$453): Speaking of teams that were trying their best to compete… Seattle has only blasted 12 homers this year, the lowest mark in the bigs. The M’s had gone 0-8 in the first eight games of this nine game home stand before stealing Sunday’s game against the Halos 8-1. Still, going 1-8 in nine home games against teams that you’re competing with for playoff spots just won’t get the job done.

Player to Buy – Dallas Braden, Oakland Athletics (1-1, 1.69 ERA): Sure, there are probably players that had better stats on the week than Braden, but how can we ignore the man who tossed the 19th perfect game in the history of baseball this week? It’s not like allowing three runs in seven frames against Texas was anything to be ashamed of either, but Mother’s Day was one to remember for the southpaw, as he tossed nine perfect frames and struck out eight Rays to make history.

Player to Sell – Carlos Pena, Tampa Bay Rays (.042, 0 HRs): How much longer can Manager Joe Maddon put up with Pena in the lineup? Not only did the dude have the lowest batting average amongst qualified players this week, but he also fanned eight times. Yes, the slugging 1B is still on a pace to blast 25+ homers and knock in 110+ runs, but let’s be real here: a .183 batting average isn’t going to cut it.