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Baseball Betting Playoffs
 

Offense is going to be the dominate topic of a lot of baseball conversations this week as the baseball betting playoffs start. But it’s easy to overlook the fact that defense and pitching really what are essential to playoff success. If you recall just over a year ago, the Red Sox traded one of their best players, shortstop Nomar Garciapparra, to the Cubs. In return, they didn’t get equal value in offense, but they made the trade to shore up a what was a terrible defense, getting Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mentkiewicz and you saw what happened.  Those two played vital roles in helping them through the rest of the playoffs. The American League race is going to be an interesting battle between slugging teams like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, against more National League style teams in the Anaheim Angels and Chicago White Sox. Boston and New York ranked in the bottom half of the American League in fielding, while Anaheim was No. 1 and the White Sox were ranked 5th. Chicago began the season by upgrading the defense and speed with Scott Posednik, and they’ve never looked back.  You saw what happened with these four teams as the Chicago White Sox lost only one game on their way to rolling their way to the World Series and a title over the Houston Astros.

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The Angels won the World Series in 2002 with a premium on fundamentals and running the bases aggressively, although this season they finished 11th in steals, the worst of the four AL playoff teams. Low scoring games are more likely during the playoffs, as well. Totals are based on parks, pitchers, and stats during the regular season, but you must remember that teams use No. 4, 5 and even 6 starting pitchers during the season – the worst starters on the staff. You won’t see these guys starting many, if any, games in October and will help shore up spotty bullpens. The same goes for the bullpens, too, as managers will go with their best relievers this time of year without as much of a worry for tiring them out. A year ago, the Red Sox won the World Series and notice that 7 of their final 10 games went under the total, including 3-1 under in the Series.

Another factor when predicting playoff baseball is the weather. October, particularly at night in the north, has colder temperatures. It’s easier to hit a baseball in warm, hot summer weather than it is in cool weather, which we find in April and October. And with teams more inclined to go with their best pitchers, rather than some mop-up guy with a 5.55 ERA, there is even more of a lean toward lower scoring games. During the 2003 World Series, all were played in late October at night, and 5 of the 6 games went under the total as managers went with their best mound arms. Defense, pitching and low scoring games are more the norm this time of year so take a strong look at the Unders.

This article was written by Bryan Leonard.  Pick up his MLB picks here.