This Week's Best MLB Trends
By Bill McBride
Covers.com
HOT TEAM: Los Angeles Angels
THIS SEASON: 23-25
LAST WEEK: 5-2
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE: At the Mets for three, home to the Marlins for three.
THE SKINNY: The Halos are starting to play the heavenly ball we all expected from them following a spending spree that would have made Nicolas Cage blush.
Albert Pujols is riding a six-game hit streak with home runs in each of his last three games. The big arms in the pitching staff continue to deliver but now that the bats are coming alive the wins are coming.
A five-game win streak is a nice start, but don’t forget the success has come at the expense of the Seattle Mariners and Oakland A’s. Not exactly world beaters.
COLD TEAM: Chicago Cubs
THIS SEASON: 15-31
LAST WEEK: 0-6
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE: Home to the Padres for three, at the Giants for four.
THE SKINNY: We try to take the variety route here in Rounding the Bases, but when you’ve lost 11 in a row headed into Sunday’s action, we have no choice but to turn to a repeat offender.
The Cubs have been dreadful in May, and entered the series finale against Pittsburgh with a 7-16 record. And in the four losses leading into Sunday’s game, Chicago scored two runs or less.
Perhaps a three-game set against San Diego at Wrigley Field will jumpstart the offense. But then again, the Cubs are just 9-15 at home this season, so maybe the confines aren’t so friendly there, after all.
They were 27th in the league in home runs (32), and 25th in slugging percentage (.373). That’s not going to get it done. Now, clearly, as this goes on, surely you’re going to have to pay more to fade them. But with losses piling up at that clip, you probably can’t ignore them much longer.
OVER TEAM: Minnesota Twins
O/U THIS SEASON: 23-20-3
O/U LAST WEEK: 5-1
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE: Home to the Athletics for three, at the Indians for three.
THE SKINNY: The Twins have been another good fade team so far, but the bats have come alive recently. While that hasn’t been enough to pull out more victories, if nothing else, it has led to some overs, and totals players should now be on alert.
The Twins were 7-2-1 over in their previous 10 games leading into Sunday’s series finale against Detroit, and also had posted three in a row. In those three, they scored 17 runs, and when you have a bad pitching staff, that kind of run total is going to get you over the total, folks.
In three games last week alone, Minnesota’s arms allowed 10 or more runs, and through Saturday’s action, the Twins were dead last in the majors in ERA (5.50).
UNDER TEAM: Pittsburgh Pirates
O/U THIS SEASON: 12-31-3
O/U LAST WEEK: 1-5
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE: Home to the Reds for three, at the Brewers for three.
THE SKINNY: Like the Cubs, we simply cannot pass on a good thing here. And with just a dozen overs through May 26, the Pirates are more than just a good thing in under-land. With a .216 team batting average, Pittsburgh ended Saturday’s action dead last in the National League and second worst in the majors next to Oakland.
But wait, there’s more. A .610 team OPS was 30th overall, and in the four games headed into Sunday’s series finale against the Cubs, Pittsburgh scored three runs or less in all of them.
Listen, outfielder Andrew McCutchen -- .338 average, seven homers, 24 RBIs, 25 runs and eight steals -- is a ball player, and appears worthy of the contract he received in the offseason. But he's alone in that lineup. And when you combine that with a pitching staff that was third in the majors in ERA (3.23) and eighth in WHIP (1.25), those unders will likely continue to pile up.
Hot and Not
By Mike Rose
VegasInsider.com
The 2012 MLB season is just about to enter the month of June, allowing baseball bettors to compile a ton of data on each team up to this point. A couple of teams produced some healthy returns for their backers last week, while others simply torched their supporter’s bankrolls. Here’s a look at some of the hottest and coldest teams in the league post Memorial Day.
Money-Makers
Los Angeles Angels (7-1, $619): The team most everyone expected to take the field at the start of the 2012 season looks to have finally found its groove, as manager Mike Scioscia’s squad checks in at 17-10 ($400) in the month of May. After winning Monday night’s slugfest with the Yankees at home, Anaheim has gotten back to the .500 mark. The addition of rookie Mike Trout into the everyday starting line-up has sparked the offense in a big way, and it’s also helped that Albert Pujols has finally rediscovered his slugging ways. As it is, LA sits 6.5-games in back of the 1st place Texas Rangers, but there’s still plenty of season remaining for this club to get back into the playoff picture.
On The Docket: The Halos got two more with the Evil Empire before hosting the Rangers in the division rivals second series of the season; LA dropped two of three when it paid a visit to Arlington a couple weeks back.
Chicago White Sox (6-1, $461): The Palehose got the job done with their pitching last week to reach the top of this list, but Manager Robin Ventura’s troops busted out the bats this past week en route to securing five wins in six tries against the division rival Twins and Indians. They racked up a total of 54 runs in those games and went yard 12 times before Chris Sale picked up his sixth win of the season after striking out 15 Rays in Tampa Monday afternoon. In doing so, the White Sox now sit just a half-game in back of the Tribe for the top spot in the AL Central.
On The Docket: Paul Konerko and his mates have two games remaining with Tampa Bay before returning home to face the Seattle Mariners for three. They’ve profited $786 as visitors but are $301 in the red as hosts.
Philadelphia Phillies (5-3, $234): Don’t look now, but the Phillies are making a charge within the highly competitive NL East even though their two big boppers – Chase Utley and Ryan Howard - continue to rehab in an attempt to get healthy for a late season run. After dropping two of three at home to the division leading Nationals, manager Charlie Manuel’s troops went into St. Louis and took three of four from the Redbirds and then went into New York and took the series opener from the Mets. Recent injuries to Carlos Ruiz and Roy Halladay are concerning, but this club has been getting unexpected contributions all season long.
On The Docket: The Phillies got two more with the Mets at Citi Field before returning home to face the Marlins through the weekend; Philly’s been at its worst at home where it’s 11-13 and -$893 for its betting backers.
Money-Burners
Atlanta Braves (0-8, -$907): Every team endures a prolonged losing stretch throughout the regular season, so it’s best to get it out of the way early as opposed to late when contending teams are all fighting for playoff spots. The Braves are currently in the midst of theirs, and it’s cost them the lead atop the NL East. That said; manager Fredi Gonzalez has been forced to deal with a myriad of injuries. The list includes Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, and Freddie Freeman – all of the team’s main RBI guys. The losing streak reached eight in a row on Memorial Day after Lance Lynn dominated them en route to securing his eighth win of the season.
On The Docket: Atlanta has two remaining with the Redbirds at home before hitting the road to battle the 1st place Nats through the weekend; they’re 16-13 ($311) as visitors to date.
Oakland A’s (1-6, -$496): The losing streak increased to six in a row for manager Bob Melvin’s Athletics who got swept at home by the New York Yankees before dropping the series opener with the Minnesota Twins Monday afternoon. It’s been painful to watch this team attempt to score all season long (#28 at 3.31 runs per game), but some added punch could be right around the corner with Yeonis Cespedes and Manny Ramirez both expected to return to the team over the course of the next week.
On The Docket: The A’s will close out the week on the road at Minnesota and Kansas City before returning home to host the Texas Rangers for four. They’ve dropped 10 of their 25 games played at home (-$515) but stand 12-12 as visitors ($613).
Seattle Mariners (2-6, -$383): After sweeping the Rockies at Coors in Interleague play and following it up by taking two of three from the AL West leading Rangers at home, it looked as if manager Eric Wedge’s Mariners were onto something. Then they dropped all four of their home clashes with the Angels and that idea was quickly scrapped from the drawing board. This team’s offense is frustratingly inconsistent, and while the pitching staff has churned out 28 quality starts (#12), the M’s sit nine-games under .500 because of it.
On The Docket: The Mariners got two more in Arlington before heading to Chicago to battle the red hot White Sox at “The Cell.” If their batting lineup continues to struggle in that venue, there’s simply no hope for this team offensively!
good stuff, thx