Money on the Diamond

Wagering on baseball is a game of percentages which is why so many handicappers don't pay attention to trivial stats, trends, weather, injuries, as much as they focus on the matchup on the diamond that day. For instance all teams carry a few left specialist to counter the opposing teams left handed batters. Some left-handed relieving specialists can have a job late in their careers as long as they can get lefty hitters out. Check out any baseball pitching roster and youll notice one or two lefty specialists some guys who you long thought were retired or over the hill. But if they can still get lefties out they are a valuable commodity in the major leagues.
Its also important to examine lefty/righty lineups because some ball parks favor certain hitters. Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium for example are great for lefty batters. Yankee Stadium has a short porch in right field making it an easy home park for lefty sluggers. Fenway has the wall in left field and for decades lefty hitters have learned to go to the opposite field and kiss baseballs off the wall for an easy double what would have been an easy out in every other park. Lets take a peak at some early season teams and how theyve fared against lefty starting pitchers.
Astros: 3-10 against lefty starters including 0-8 on the road. Its easy to see why the Astros struggle on the road as they havent beaten lefties or righties on the road. Houston actually has mostly right-handed hitters too so its not something where they have to sit down certain strong hitters against southpaws. The bottom line: This is simply a bad offensive team that should continue to struggle against righties and lefties.
Yankees: 6-6 versus lefties. This is surprising as this is a deep right-handed hitting lineup. Last year New York was 36-12 against lefties! That 6-6 start may change so keep a close tab on the Yankees against lefties.
Indians: Cleveland was lousy against lefties in 2004 24-34 and theyre struggling again at 3-8 1-5 on the road. With the whole team struggling to hit it doesnt help that two of their best hitters Travis Hafner lefty and Coco Crisp switchhitter are both significantly worse against lefty pitchers. The Indians likely will continue to struggle against southpaws.
Royals: 5-10 against lefties. Same as the Astros: This is simply a bad team.
Padres: 6-1 at home against lefties 1-5 on the road! San Diego is a team a manager would want to throw a lefty against with lefty sluggers Sean Burroughs Brian Giles and Ryan Klesko. Note that the young Burroughs is hitting .283 with 10 walks against righties but .259 with one walk against lefties. It is a bit difficult to explain at this point why they are so good at home against lefties but as the season goes along the Padres are a team that should excel against righties and may struggle against southpaws especially on the road.
These type of scenarios can be found and analyzed in almost all MLB matchups and is the primary focus of my handicapping efforts. Remember to focus on the mound the diamond this year and leave most of the trivial stats out of your equation and you will hopefully have a successful season.