It’s getting close to the time where we start looking at NCAA point spreads once again – no, not college football betting as we are still a ways away from football and NFL betting tips – we are referring to the NCAA World Series.
It’s once again that time to embrace the ping and if you haven’t watched the college baseball world series before, you are definitely missing out on one of the best events you can bet on in the sportsbook.
The Florida Gators are expected to make a run at this year’s title, which shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to anyone. The Gators are perennially a sports juggernaut – mostly in college football – but the are expected to be a contender in the NCAA World Series as well.
They won the regular season SEC championship with a record of 22-8. The surprise Gators squad that went to the finals back in 2005 only had 20 wins, so the expectations have climbed significantly for this squad.
Keep an eye on this squad as they are much deeper than in year’s past. They have plenty of good pitching and as we all know, pitching gets you wins in baseball. Don’t be surprised if it’s this team from Florida – and not Miami or Florida State – that makes a big splash in the college world series.
“If at first you don’t succeed try again” For the Tampa Bay Rays this phrase has never been truer. Through the first decade of existence, the Rays were the laughingstock of not only the American League East, but the entire league. Suddenly in 2008, out of nowhere, the Rays turned their fortunes around, getting off to a strong start and finishing as the American League Champions by season’s end, as they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. Regardless of the outcome of 2008, the season would go down as a success for the team, as 2008 not only was one of their winning seasons, but they almost won the World Series too. In the two years since their Cinderella season, the Rays have become one of the best teams in baseball. Further fans have gone from betting against the Rays, to betting for them.
This season, could end up as the team’s best as they have accumulated a record of 32 wins and 13 losses thus far. Also, the average age on the team is an astonishing 26. The team’s backbone has been its starting pitching staff. Each pitcher has the goal of throwing a complete game, and if that falters, the bullpen is strong enough to maintain the lead and eventual victory. Starting pitcher and top prospect David Price, leads the league with a 1.30 ERA, even though, he is the number four starter in the rotation. As seen with the average age on the team, the majority of the roster came from the Rays farm system, proving that being bad for years can have its benefits. Similar to other AL East teams, the Rays offense has a lot of depth at each position, led by the power of first and third basemen Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria, the Rays continue to lead the league in stolen bases with outfielders Carl Crawford and BJ Upton leading the charge on the base path’s. Given how strong of a start the Rays have gotten off too, it appears that they will soon claim their title as the best team in baseball, while assuring their Cinderella story comes to fruition.
The next two weeks of baseball should decide the fate of the Boston Red Sox. With that, MLB betting may become a tad bit easier when dealing with Boston. Over the weekend, they dropped two of three from the New York Yankees and fell even further from first. They sit in fourth place in the very competitive AL East, five and a half games back of first place Tampa Bay, five back of New York, and a game and half behind Toronto. Many baseball analysts predicted both Tampa and New York to win upwards of 90 games, and possibly even 100 this year, making Boston’s position ever more dire.
Starting Friday, they play series against Detroit, the Yankees, Minnesota, Philadelphia, and finally Tampa Bay. These games are all against tough clubs, and will go a long way into deciding the future of the Sox.
If the Red Sox fail to gain any ground in the next couple weeks, look for them to shut the season down. It would be wise for them to give up on making the playoffs and begin rebuilding so that they are ready for 2011. It is a depressing thought for many fans, but perhaps the wisest of decisions. If this is the path they choose, be very careful when picking the Red Sox to win. Take advantage, however, of name recognition. That is, to those who don’t follow closely, the Red Sox many continually be a winning pick, but those who know will really they lack the talent despite being favourites. With sports betting, teams like the Yankees and Red Sox will often be favourites based in part due to their name.
Watch the Red Sox closely in the nextmonth and don’t be surprised at some drastic changes. When these occur, take advantage of early betting lines and pick against the struggling Boston club.
Minnesota Twins Vs Chicago White Sox
On the strength of a five run fifth inning the Chicago White Sox managed to beat the Central leading Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night in what was the first of a two game betting mini- series at Target Field.
Coming into this series eight games out of first Chicago got some encouraging news on this night when their shortstop Alexei Ramirez and catcher A.J. Pierzynski got key run scoring hits. What makes this so encouraging is the fact that Ramirez came into the game hitting .174 in his last 23 at bats. Meanwhile Pierzynski came in hitting only .167 in his last 12 at bats. If the White Sox are to have a chance on Wednesday then they need these two to remain hot, just like the triple crown contender in the upcoming Preakness Betting Race.
The White Sox who have won two out of three will have a big challenge on Wednesday when they face Twins veteran Carl Pavano who was a hard luck loser in a 2-0 decision against the Baltimore Orioles in his last start on on May 7. Pavano who is 3-3 with a 3.43 ERA this season has always had success against Chicago. In his career he has registered an impressive 2.91 ERA against the Sox. During his last two starts batters have averaged only .228 against Pavano.
Chicago who have been inconsistent, for MLB Picks handicappers, this season has an impressive offence that is now just starting to get on track. Their leadoff hitter Juan Pierre had three hits against Minnesota on Tuesday and is hitting .400 in his last 10 at bats. Outfielder/DH Andruw Jones is off to a solid start with 9 homeruns and 17 RBIs. Their best hitter first baseman Paul Konerko has been cold in hitting only .167 in his last 18 at bats.
The main reason why I’m picking Minnesota in this game isn’t just because of Pavano and his past track record against Chciago but also do to catcher Joe Mauer returning on Tuesday to the line up. Last year’s American League MVP registered three hits in four at bats on Tuesday and is reportedly one hundred percent healthy. Overall the Twins line up is just as dangerous if not more then the White Sox and that’s saying something. Minnesota has such weapons as first baseman Justin Morneau hitting 348 and Orlando Hudson who has registered a .364 average in his past 11 at bats.
Designated hitter Jim Thome who signed last winter as a free agent has also provided some potent power to the line up. This 39 year-old has hit five homeruns and 15 RBIs in limited playing time.
Despite the explosive offence of these two teams Wednesday, sports picks experts, predict a low scoring game. The White Sox will be sending John Danks to the mound and so far this season he has been lights out with a 3-1 record and a 1.98 ERA. His only loss came in his last start against the Toronto Blue Jays when he surrendered two runs and racked up seven strikeouts in what was a tough luck 2-0 loss.
Besides for Pavano’s impressive 2.91 career ERA against Chicago and the Twins batting line up another reason why I’m picking Minnesota on Wednesday afternoon is because simply in baseball it seems like when one team wins the first of a two game series the other team comes out a little hungrier for that second game. In sports there is that pride of not wanting to be swept.
