How to bet on baseball

If you are interested in baseball and want to learn the all-important basic factors when it comes to how to bet on baseball, then continue reading this article. With baseball teams playing a staggering 162 games a season we have many opportunities to bet, but there are some intricacies that we need to keep in mind before making bets on baseball. 

How to bet on baseball - the pitchers

One thing to keep in mind is that baseball, as opposed to many other sports with team matchups, is that that it is less of a team sport and more of a series of individual matchups of the pitcher vs the batter.  In other words, before placing any team bets we have to take into account who is pitching for each team in this game.  Each team have 5 starting pitchers who rotate each day giving them 4 days rest between starts.  Thus a team’s odds can differ hugely between their first choice starter (their ace) and their fifth choice.  It can be so pronounced that a team with the worst record in baseball can be the favourite over the top ranked team if they have their ace pitching against a lesser starter. So make sure you are informed about the starting pitcher, and a good idea would also be to read your bookmaker's baseball rules so that you know how they treat pitcher changes (if you bet based on a pitcher starting, then you do not want your bet to stand in case the team change their pitcher afterwards, as these changes will greatly affect the prices).

How to bet on baseball - pitcher vs batter matchups

For individual player betting the pitcher matchup is just as important.  The first major factor to consider is the simple lefty/righty matchup.  In general left handed batters do significantly worse against left handed pitchers.  So if you are following a left handed slugger to score a home run for a match you will have to revise your estimate if he is facing a left handed starter. Often left handed batters will actually sit out some games vs a lefty pitcher as the decrease in performance is so high.  An extension of this is also a factor for players who can hit from either side of the plate, they will match up to hit left handed vs a righty pitcher and right handed vs a lefty.  Often a player may have a significant difference in power in one side to the other and this is an important point to evaluate when making a bet.

How to bet on baseball - the stadium

An often overlooked part of baseball betting is the dimensions of the stadium of the game.  Each stadium in baseball has its own distances from the plate to the wall and this can differ from as little as 310 feet at Fenway to the right field pole to Minute Maid Park which is 435 feet to centre field.  A fly ball that is an easy catch in one field can be a home run in another which will affect the total scoring for the game and any individual player scoring bets.

How to bet on baseball - player stats

You have to be careful when evaluating player stats in baseball, the regular stats of RBIs for hitters or Wins for pitchers are often paraded around on TV and in newspapers - but do they actually transfer into performance on the park?  With the huge growth of player evaluation in baseball (Sabermetrics), much better performance measures have been created and any statistical evaluation of players should look to incorporate these improvements rather than relying on the often reported but rather meaningless statistics.

How to bet on baseball - end notes

We hope you have enjoyed our basic introduction to baseball betting, make sure you read our other articles on betting and stay updated on our betting tips! If you have any feedback, suggestions or requests do not hesitate to let us know via the comment field below or contact us.