It is no overstatement to say the Major League Baseball season is long. Six months and 162 games long to be exact. And that's before we even get to the playoffs and the World Series.
Many things happen over the course of such a long season, and, if you're a sports gambler, MLB betting trends are important to your bankroll. Of course, when it comes to MLB betting, the trends are usually based on any team's recent performance.
Wins during day games, wins at home, and wins ATS are all popular points of interest for sports bettors to consider prior to their next wager. However, there are other trends to consider before placing MLB picks.
Wunderdog MLB consensus takes a good look at what exactly those trends are and how they play out over the long baseball season.
Rebuilding Teams
Every year there are a few teams that are just terrible. They always say they're "rebuilding," but some of these teams are, in fact, still in the act of burning the house down.
The Detroit Tigers were 47-144 in 2019. The Baltimore Orioles went 54-108. The Miami Marlins were a juggernaut at 57-105. Yikes.
Of course, these are not the teams that successful gamblers are going to be wagering on. However, these should be the teams you are wagering against. Often.
It's funny how sports bettors always look for who will win a game and not who will lose. Not to say MLB scores aren't important. Know this MLB trend early because these teams lose often and then get worse. Let them rebuild their franchise; you can build up your bankroll.
Who's Series Hot
Picking up on which MLB teams are on a roll is not hard to do during an MLB season. If a team has won four or five games in a row, it's going to draw the attention of media, oddsmakers, and sports bettors. However, there is another MLB betting trend often ignored, and that is series wins in a row.
The long MLB season is broken up into series where teams play against each other in two-, three-, or four-game sets. Hot teams don't necessarily have to be winning a lot of games in a row.
They can be simply winning a lot of series in a row, and teams that win a lot of series are teams you want to know about.
Yes, they are losing games here and there, but they are winning much more than they are losing. Finding a team with three series wins in a row can provide an excellent sample size to inform your MLB betting.
Which pitcher is winning games? Which is losing? How much are they scoring in wins? How much in losses? Are there any current MLB underdogs?Many MLB betting trends can come to light if a team is series hot.
Who's Series Not
Of course, this can work conversely as well. Just because a team hasn't lost seven games in a row doesn't mean they aren't cold. A team can play 10 games with a 4-6 record without winning a series.
A 4-6 stretch isn't necessarily bad over the course of the long MLB season. However, a team can go 4-6 and fail to win a series, and this is more telling of who the team is and what MLB betting trend they are on.
It is important to think of some MLB trends in series and not games. That's what the teams do, and that's what you should do.
Long Road Trips
Again, the MLB season is a slog, and somewhere over the course of every season, teams are going to go on long road trips. East Coast teams fly out west to play three or even four series in a row. West Coast teams fly out east.
It is just a part of the grind that is the Major League Baseball season. Somehow, this isn't often recognized as an MLB betting trend.
Studying how a team performs on these extended road trips is very important. Every team underperforms on these trips, so before you place a wager on a road favorite, be sure to check if they are on a long road trip.
Pitching, Pitching, More Pitching
Pitching has always been the key to successful baseball. The MLB gambling odds of any game are usually decided because of the starting pitchers.
However, this has changed over the last few years in very interesting ways. Starters don't get out of six innings usually. Mid-relievers pitch more than ever nowadays.
Plus, "Openers" are now being used year-round. The days of gauging the value of a wager on the starting pitcher alone are over when m,aking your MLB picks.
These days you must know the ability and availability of relievers as well. This is one of the most recent MLB betting trends, and it seems to increase in importance every year. Take note.