Betting Opening Week of the 2020 MLB Season
The 2020 MLB Season is Upon Us
The 2020 MLB season finally gets underway with a later-than-normal Opening Day on Thursday, July 23. It should be an interesting 60-game season with plenty of twists and turns.
Bettors need to get off to a good start. Here’s what they should look for.
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Hitters > Pitchers
There is a reason why pitchers and catchers report early to spring training in baseball. It takes more time to get ready to pitch an entire season.
Having been off for four months before returning to prepare for the 2020 season, MLB pitchers will be at a distinct disadvantage come opening week of the season.
Several managers have even said that they will approach their starting pitchers with concern, especially right at the beginning of the season. Some pitchers may even have a two- or three-inning limit in their first start.
When the Giants face the Dodgers on Opening Day, it will be Clayton Kershaw up against San Francisco’s Johnny Cueto. How long will each last? Plus, the Dodgers lineup is full of All-Stars. Betting Over 8 at +100 looks awful good.
Things to Keep in Mind With a Shortened MLB Season
Yankees-Nationals
It’s the perfect way to start the season. Last year’s World Series champion, Washington, will face the American League favorite, New York, on Opening Day. It’s the first of a three-game series to open the season.
Max Scherzer, the World Series Game 7 starter, goes up against the Yankees Gerrit Cole, who was the Game 5 winner for Houston last year. Applying the pitching logic again, it will be interesting to see how far each pitcher lasts.
HOW TO BET
The Yankees are a -135 favorite to beat Washington and that’s a bet to lay. With the starting pitchers likely out early, New York’s bullpen will make the difference. Most experts rank the Yankees bullpen as the best in baseball. The Nationals aren’t even in the top ten.
Bet The Mets
Atlanta is the two-time defending NL East champion, but they will face an uphill battle in their season opener at the New York Mets. The Mets are a legitimate contender in 2020 with an extremely deep pitching rotation despite the loss of Noah Syndergaard.
New York also has one of the league’s best sluggers in first baseman Pete Alonso who hit 53 homers last year. NL Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom will pitch for New York. It’s his second consecutive Opening Day start for the Mets. He beat the Nationals last year.
Take deGrom, Alonso and the Mets at -126 to win their opener.
Feelers Out
The opening week of the 2020 MLB season will give bettors a chance to put out the feelers. Maybe it’s a good week to look into buying picks for the 2020 MLB season. In a 60-game regular season, it appears that pitching depth simply will not matter that much.
What will matter is having multiple ace pitchers. Teams like Washington (Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, Stephen Strasburg) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (Kershaw, Walker Buehler, David Price) have an advantage in this shortened season.
It also makes for a very interesting futures bet to consider. Shohei Ohtani will make his first start in two years for the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday, July 26. If Ohtani can regain the form that made him one of MLB’s most intriguing prospects, the Angels will have their own 1-2 ace punch.
Griffin Canning is a young pitcher who is on the verge of blossoming into one of the league’s best. With two aces that don’t have to worry so much about inning limits, the Angels are a nice value at +3500 to win the 2020 World Series.