Baseball is the most exciting sport to bet on, as teams usually have between two to four-game series against their opponents throughout the baseball season.
Some cases can have a team sweeping all the games in the series or splitting the games in a series.
So with baseball games having the chance of giving a different outcome from one day to the next with the same opponent, gamblers have to study many things besides just the MLB odds.
Gamblers looking to bet on MLB games need to look at more than just the MLB lines, MLB odds, and MLB spreads if they want to find some teams that can help them get a winning bet.
MLB odds work closely to an NFL game, except the MLB spreads are based on runs, known as the run spread, instead of points like in the NFL.
There are three main options for gamblers to bet on MLB games that we will go over.
MLB Run Spread
In baseball, point spreads actually are called runlines, this essentially gives the underdog a slight head start before the game even begins, and puts pressure on the favored team to cover the spread.
The line will be set by our oddsmakers, and they will determine how many points they think the favored team will win by. They might set a line at -5.5/+5.5. Let’s say the Yankees are -5.5, they are the favored team, and the Diamondbacks are +5.5 and they are the underdog.
What this means is that the Yankees will need to win the game by more than 6 runs. If you decide to place that -5.5 bet, you aren’t betting on the Yankees to win by any margin – you are betting on them to win by more than six.
If you think the game will be closer than that, or that the Diamondbacks will win, you should bet on the underdog +5.5. This means that the Diamondbacks can either win the game outright by any amount or lose by less than five runs.
The MLB spreads are usually adjusted based on which players are starting and out for the game.
The most significant thing you should look at is the bullpen and which players are available in each bullpen, along with the batting stats of players from both teams.
Bullpen players have a history of being either the pitcher that helps hold the lead or blows their team’s lead. Looking at a relief pitcher’s ERA can help with seeing if they are more prone to blow a lead or not.
Looking at the offensive bench players and their history against opposing pitchers would be something else that can help find out if one team can have a secret edge that has gotten overlooked.
Ensuring that a team can cover the run spread is essential to a winning wager, and if a bullpen has a history of giving up too many runs late in the game, your team might not cover.
MLB Moneyline
The moneyline is a straight-up bet on which team will be the winner. MLB odds for moneyline bets give the favorite negative odds, while the underdog gets plus odds.
With most MLB games being competitive, the moneyline odds can be a chance for gamblers to get better returns over making a run spread bet.
The same strategies that gamblers use on MLB spreads can be used here, as the gambler only needs an outright win.
Over/Under on Run Total
The last type of MLB odds to look at is how many total runs will be scored in a game.
The odds will be based on a total number of runs, with gamblers choosing to wager if the total runs will be over or under the number given.
For these types of wagers, gamblers will need to look at both the pitching and batting of both teams.
While the MLB odds are based on what oddsmakers think will be the total number of runs scored, they come to that number by looking at the average number of runs both teams score in a game.
Gamblers should look at what batters for both teams are on hot or cold streaks, along with the ERA of the starting pitchers and the bullpen pitchers.
These players will all be a part of and can be a factor in how many runs are scored.
