After roughly one-fifth of the Major League Baseball regular season, it’s time to look at some 2021 MLB betting stats. There have been quite a few surprises so far. Namely, the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers are not leading the NL West Division. In fact, they aren’t even in second place.
The New York Yankees were supposed to dominate the AL East, but rival Boston sits atop the division and, recently, had the best record in baseball.
There are plenty more surprises and more to come in this 2021 season. Those surprises have MLB bettors on their toes. Here’s a look at the MLB betting stats so far this season.
2021 MLB Betting Stats – Run Line Trends
Baseball is typically a moneyline sport, but there are some noticeable trends of which MLB bettors should be taking note. The biggest is the Seattle Mariners.
The Mariners have produced losing seasons in 30 of their 44 years in MLB. Seattle currently has the longest playoff drought in the four major North American professional sports leagues.
In 2021, the Mariners are the team to back on the run line. Despite their 18-17 record, Seattle has covered in 65.7 percent (23-12) of their games thus far. Part of that success can be traced to some quality pitching by Chris Flexen (3-1) and Rafael Montero (3-1).
Bettors should also keep an eye on St. Louis (21-14, 22-13 ATS), Boston (22-13, 22-13 ATS), Cleveland (18-14, 20-12 ATS), and San Francisco (20-14, 21-13 ATS). Each has covered the spread in over 61 percent of their games thus far.
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Red Over
The NL Central has been one of the more competitive divisions over the past decade. It has been a tough go for those betting baseball. The Cincinnati Reds haven’t been relevant in the division for some time. In last year’s shortened season, Cincy finished over .500 for the first time in a long time and made the playoffs.
The Reds aren’t off to that great of a start (15-16) in 2021, but they have proven to be the best Over team in MLB. The game total has gone Over in 66.7 percent (20-10-1) of Reds’ games so far this season.
Part of the Reds’ success is the play of guys like Jesse Winker, who is fourth in the majors with a .354 batting average, and Nick Castellanos, who has nine home runs. The other part of it is some awful defense. Cincy’s inconsistent play can be seen in its last five games. They have given up run totals of 9, 9, and 12 in those five games. In the other two, the Reds shutout their opponent.
Red Sox Dog
We can’t go too far when talking about 2021 MLB betting stats and not talk about the BoSox.
Bettors love nothing more than finding those solid moneyline underdog bets. Boston has been the best of the dogs so far. In 11 of their 35 games so far, the Red Sox were the underdog. Their record in those games is 8-3.
One of the keys to look for in MLB betting are potential road underdogs, especially those within a division. Boston has been a road dog six times this season and is 5-1 in those games. Bettors would love it if the Red Sox can even come close to maintaining those numbers the rest of the season.
Pitching Props – 2021 MLB Betting Stats
If you have been following Cleveland’s Shane Bieber, you know that he is a strikeout machine. In seven appearances so far, Bieber has recorded double-digit strikeouts in all but two games. In those two, he had nine.
Bieber has pitched 48.1 innings this year and has struck out 77 batters. Watch Bieber’s total strikeout numbers. He went Over early in the season and has gone Under the total strikeouts in two of his last three games.
It’s also worth noting that the San Diego Padres have the best ERA in the majors at 2.77. The result is that the Padres tend toward the Under. The Under is 20-15 in San Diego’s 35 games this season.
Because of the Padres pitching, it makes sense for bettors to take a good look at team totals bets for San Diego opponents. The same is true for the New York Mets, whose team ERA is 2.99, which is second to San Diego. The Under is 15-11-2 in Mets’ games this year. Playing the Under on Mets opponents could be a solid bet.