One of the keys to MLB wagering in October is carefully following teams in playoff contention during the final weeks of baseball. Paramount to understanding how a team performs is evaluating the coaching staff in games that are close and late. Is a particular team going to play small ball to achieve success; are team lineups catering to a teams offensive or defensive strengths? Some coaches have a roster to achieve sort of a balance with this (take the Chicago White Sox, for example). Identifying your likes or dislikes about October bound teams now will significantly increase your chances of divisional round success and beyond.
A great example of what I am talking about is following the Texas Rangers as they take on the Tampa Bay Rays (Tues - Thurs). Even though T.B. is likely to miss the playoffs they are a very competitive team – Furthermore, they have great starting pitching. Take a deep look at how Ron Washington aligns his order – how the bottom of the order handles quality pitching – how deep the Rangers starting staff goes against a tricky Rays lineup. By doing so, you will have evaluated the Rangers in a pressure situation … as close as you can get to playoff matter. Just like we typically treat week 3 of the NFL preseason as the “dress rehearsal” for the regular season, meaningful games in September should provide you insight into post season performance.
Take extra stock in a game when Arizona plays San Francisco or the Detroit Tigers take on the Chicago White Sox. Begin now to identify the areas of strength and weakness, especially situations that arise late in games. Unfortunately the 2011 MLB season has left many teams out of playoff contention and personally for me it has been slim pickings in terms of wagering opportunities. Still every night I follow the games that mean something. As I am writing this I have the Yankees/Red Sox game on. I chose to closely follow this game – not because of the rivalry – but since it replicates a playoff-like situation. All the best to you come this September and October.
One last thing, watch the little guys (the Jed Lowrie’s, the Brennan Boesch’s, etc…) These are the guys that typically make the difference come playoff time.
A great example of what I am talking about is following the Texas Rangers as they take on the Tampa Bay Rays (Tues - Thurs). Even though T.B. is likely to miss the playoffs they are a very competitive team – Furthermore, they have great starting pitching. Take a deep look at how Ron Washington aligns his order – how the bottom of the order handles quality pitching – how deep the Rangers starting staff goes against a tricky Rays lineup. By doing so, you will have evaluated the Rangers in a pressure situation … as close as you can get to playoff matter. Just like we typically treat week 3 of the NFL preseason as the “dress rehearsal” for the regular season, meaningful games in September should provide you insight into post season performance.
Take extra stock in a game when Arizona plays San Francisco or the Detroit Tigers take on the Chicago White Sox. Begin now to identify the areas of strength and weakness, especially situations that arise late in games. Unfortunately the 2011 MLB season has left many teams out of playoff contention and personally for me it has been slim pickings in terms of wagering opportunities. Still every night I follow the games that mean something. As I am writing this I have the Yankees/Red Sox game on. I chose to closely follow this game – not because of the rivalry – but since it replicates a playoff-like situation. All the best to you come this September and October.
One last thing, watch the little guys (the Jed Lowrie’s, the Brennan Boesch’s, etc…) These are the guys that typically make the difference come playoff time.
