What To Expect In The Second Half Of The MLB Season: National League
Added on Jul 12, 2012 by Jack Thurman in
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The All Star Break is just about over and the Major League Baseball teams will resume play on Friday. It will also mark the end of one of the slowest sports betting weeks of the year and bookmakers and players alike will welcome the return of a full board of wagering opportunities.
Before play resumes we’ll take this opportunity to look ahead at the rest of the season and highlight a few storylines that could impact the bottom line for baseball betting enthusiasts:
–Don’t Expect A Turnaround In Philadelphia: One of the biggest stories of the first half of the season has been the miserable performance of the Philadelphia Phillies. Heading into the season they were expected to be the team to beat in the National League East but instead they’ve sank like a stone to the bottom of the division. There is at least some sense among fans that a turnaround could be in the cards for the second half of the season but we sure don’t see it. An aging, injury prone lineup is the least of their problems–a bigger issue is the fact that the team is underacheiving in every phase of the game. The pitching has been horrible and that’s evidenced by the 4.23 team ERA which ranks #22 in the Majors. The offense has been marginally better but ranks in the middle of the pack in most statistical categories. The Phillies have lost more money than any team in baseball to this point (-25.15 units) and we expect that to continue.
–The Nationals Are The Real Deal: With a young, deep and talented pitching staff the Washington Nationals ended the first half of the season atop the NL East. And while we don’t expect contenders Atlanta and New York to go down without a fight we do think that Washington is the class of the division. The pitching has always been there, but now in addition to Steven Strasburg they’ve got a dominating #2 starter in lefthander Gio Gonzalez. The offense has also picked up from earlier this year and the addition of 19 year old phenom Bryce Harper has given the Nats a player with all of the offensive tools and a lot of ‘swagger’. Prices are starting to catch up with this team but they’re as good as advertised.
–Can The Pirates Finish In The Black?: Perhaps the biggest story of the first half of the season in the National League has been the Pittsburgh Pirates who entered the break leading the NL Central. Last season the team started strong before fading down the stretch en route to another losing season. Prices are starting to catch up to the Pirates but they could stay afloat atop a very weak division. More significantly, they’ve got a lot of young players–particularly centerfielder Andrew McCutchen–just now entering their price. They’ve picked up the offensive performance that hurt them earlier in the season and if the pitching can stay strong they could be playoff bound.
