The 2020 MLB season finally gets underway this Friday, the 24th of July! As we have for years, Before You Bet will once again be bringing you a weekly MLB betting tips article, focusing in on one of the big mid-week slates on a day where there might not be too much Australian sports happening.
See our full preview and betting tips for the two games on opening day below, or you can check out our MLB Season Preview & Outright Betting Tips here.
Nationals Park, 9.08am (AEST)
The reigning World Series champions will kick off the new season as they host the Yankees from around 9am Australian time on Friday morning. Max Scherzer is coming off a dominant post-season which was the catalyst in the Nationals championship run and he’ll be on the mound on opening day looking to carry on his great form from 2019.
The Nats lost all-star third baseman Anthony Rendon to free agency in the off-season but there’s no doubt they still have a championship calibre team if they can stay healthy. Their starting rotation is still one of the best in baseball and if their outfield can stay intact, they should be at least the second best team in the National League.
They’ll be up against the Yankees on Friday morning, a daunting task given some of the moves New York made in the off-season. Despite having one of the most efficient batting line-ups in all of baseball, the Yankees fell agonisingly short of a World Series berth mainly due to an underperforming starting rotation. The Yankees did what the Yankees do best in the offseason, splurging $324 million on arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball currently, Gerrit Cole, who will be on the mound Friday morning.
The Yankees score more runs than any other team in 2019 despite two of their best hitters, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton playing just over 120 games between them due to injury. If their batting line-up replicates the performance of 2019 combined with a rejuvenised starting rotation, they could be hoisting their 28th World Series title.
The Yankees have been pretty strong through pre-season games, maintaining a 13-8 record and we think they are pretty good value on opening day. Might have to reassess when the two teams meet again on Sunday, but with Cole on the mound, we like the Yankees here.
TIP:
Dodger Stadium, 12.08pm (AEST)
Is this finally going to be the year for the Dodgers? After being arguably the most successful team in baseball for the past five years, the Dodgers have fallen short of their first World Series win since 1988. Last season, it was the Washington Nationals who eliminated them in the NLCS and they’ll be back for blood in 2020.
The Dodgers might have put together one of the best teams on paper of all-time this season. They won 106 games last year, the most of any team in the league and just went ahead and added perennial MVP candidate in Mookie Betts to strengthen the roster. The addition of Betts as well as a stream of top prospects to an already ridiculous line-up of position players that includes Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner, Corey Saeger and Max Muncy will make them the team to beat in 2020.
The Giants will likely sit at the other end of the spectrum in 2020. The return of Johnny Cueto to the starting rotation was one positive to come out of the Giants off-season this year. The right hander has battled through injury and surgery for the past two seasons but will get the start in game one against Clayton Kershaw on Friday.
All things going according to plan, the Dodgers should win this one pretty comfortably. They were dominant in pre-season, with a 13-7 record, the best in the ‘Cactus League’ and we feel confident that they can carry that momentum into opening day.
TIP:
The second match of the final day triple header in BBL10 will see the Melbourne Renegades take on the Hobart Hurricanes. As usual, we have you covered with a full preview and betting tips for the clash including player props courtesy of Billy Bestford here read more
It was an interesting weekend of FA Cup fixtures as well as a couple of make-up games in the EPL but we are back to regular scheduling now, with a whole round of games set to take place this week. We have you covered with a preview and betting tips for some of the key matchups in Matchweek 20 here. read more
The final day of the BBL10 home and away season is here as the Heat and Scorchers kick off a triple header from the Adelaide Oval. As usual, Jack Tobin has you covered with a full preview and betting tips for the clash here read more
The final day of the BBL10 season is upon us! A massive triple header of games will round out the season and the third and final of those games is an absolute blockbuster as the two Grand Finalists from last year, the Stars and Sixers, do battle from the MCG! read more
The best Australian sports betting sites ensure safe and successful online betting for punters. Here's our list of the best betting options in Australia. read more
Julian Vallance from Sportsbet takes us through some of the key factors which he uses with pricing upcoming horse races such as performance ratings. Check out his video from Sportsbet here. read more
Over-Round is an important concept for both punters and sportsbooks. It's how Australian sportsbooks make money! All punters should understand over-round, how to spot it, and how to find better value on the Betfair Exchange. read more
Ever wondered why you can get such great odds at Betfair in comparison to other online bookmakers? We break down why that is the case and why Betfair isn't just for professional punters here read more
The countdown is on until the BBL10 season officially gets underway! We ranked our BBL10 top 5 batsmen to watch earlier in the week, and today we are doing the same for bowlers! Check out our BBL10 top 5 bowlers to watch, courtesy of Mr.Cricket, here. read more
The BBL10 squads are pretty much finalised and the season is not far away! We've taken a look at the squads for each team, and put together our predicted starting lineups taking into consideration availability of Australian national players and the playing schedule of the international recruits. Check out our BBL10 team lineups here! read more
The Big Bash League season is just around the corner! In the lead up to BBL10, we will be taking a look at some of the key players who will be hoping to lead their teams to victory! Today, we go through the top five batsmen to watch in BBL10 read more
The team at Palmerbet take a look at three key chances for the 2020 Melbourne Cup as punters look to take advantage of the Palmerbet Price Push among 10+ other promos available for Palmerbet customers for the "Race That Stops The Nation" on Tuesday. read more