The Major League Baseball playoffs have arrived! The best-of-three Wild Card Round starts today with four games, as we’ll have Rays/Guardians, Phillies/Cardinals, Mariners/Blue Jays and Padres/Mets in that order.
Betting on the MLB playoffs is a much different beast than the regular season. It is a much tighter run environment and the game is managed more aggressively. Starting pitchers don’t work as far into games and prominent relievers are sometimes deployed earlier depending on the importance of the situation. Handicapping the bullpen is always important, but it is magnified at this time of the year.
Pregame wagers are less about making a bet and more about taking a position. Think about it like a starting point. Because these games often feature a lot of different high-leverage situations and pitching changes, live betting is a good strategy. There will be huge momentum swings and game-changing home runs that create in-game betting equity. The games are staggered in a way that makes them easy to follow. Every single pitch matters and that’s true of betting on these games as well.
I’ll be back to doing the daily MLB article for the duration of the postseason. Don’t expect a ton of pregame picks, but I’ll tell you what I’m looking for in terms of live bets, series prices and other wagering tips. I also won’t be using the sheet to track these. As I mentioned, a lot of pregame wagers will simply be positions to take in hopes that they gain equity before the game.