Supporting info

Today I’m going to write about some supporting info, info that will help you place or not to place a bet you are thinking about. This shouldn’t be used as the only info you are basing your bets on.

Pitcher against the team

Some pitchers, while having average results against most of the teams, have excellent or awful records against certain teams. Why is this so it’s hard to tell and actually, it’s not really that important. It’s important to notice those situations. When you are considering placing a bet on the team and find out that their pitcher (no matter how good) has awful results against the opposing team I would suggest to stay away from that fixture.

Hitter against pitcher

Before placing a bet always check how hitters from one team are performing against opposing starter. Sometimes you’ll be surprised to see how certain hitters are really „killing“ certain pitchers throughout their careers. So, always check how opposing hitters are doing against the starter you are about to back. If there are 2 or more opposing hitters with great records against him stay away from this bet because chances are your starter is going to get battered.

Night games vs. day games

Some starters pitches are much harder to pick up during the night games under the lights and therefore they are performing better by night. Some other pitchers for whatever reason perform better during the day games. There are teams that are batting much better during the day games then during the night games and vice versa. Always check how starter you are planning to back performs in day/night situations and do the same for team batting stats for the team you are planning to back. If they are underperforming in certain situations I advise you to stay away from that bet.

Home vs. road

Many starting pitchers have great home records, but when it comes to road games they are just average or even worse. It’s important to spot those pitchers and often it’s a great value to bet against them on the road.

Usually all teams have better home then road records, but sometimes we can find a few exceptions. This season we have Tampa Bay with home record of 18-15 and road record of 23-9 (best road record in MLB). This shows us that despite Tampa Bay has best overall record in MLB it’s not profitable to back them in home games, but it’s very profitable to back them in road games.

Performance vs. left-handed pitchers

More then 75% of starting pitchers are right-handers and that is why most of the hitters are much more comfortable batting against right-handed pitchers. Each season there are a few teams that are performing better then usual against lefties and teams that are performing worse then usual against lefties. For example Toronto is 30-22 (.576) against right-handers this season, but only 5-9 (.357) against the lefties. Also Pittsburgh is only 14-33 (.298) against right-handed pitchers, but 9-8 (.529) against lefties. If you are planing to back the team that is playing against left-handed pitcher always check their records against them.

All the best,

Mr. Stretch