A lot has changed in Major League Baseball in the last month. Several teams made huge moves at the trade deadline, some teams got key players back from the injured list while others lost contributors for one reason or another, and some teams have seen their performance level change dramatically since the All-Star break.
All of this tends to occur at varying levels every year, making life difficult for bettors who are trying to stay up to speed. One thing is crystal clear though — bettors who remain invested in the daily MLB grind need to start thinking about the here and now, not about our perceptions before the All-Star break.
It’s obvious that teams made definitive strategic decisions at the trade deadline. Teams including the Tigers, Pirates and Nationals have seemingly packed it in, unloading many of the key players that they had worked hard to develop over the past several years. Others like the Mariners, Cardinals and Phillies sought to take advantage of what could be a rare opportunity to accomplish something special this year by adding, among other things, pitching help. And then, of course, there are the Padres, who went all-in on 2022 by adding a plethora of All-Stars, most notably Juan Soto and Josh Hader, in hopes that they can help make a deep playoff run out of an expected wild-card spot.
As usual, many of the moves made in late July and early August came as a result of how the teams played going into and out of the All-Star break. However, for those of you not really analyzing the situation closely and still going about your daily MLB handicapping in the same way, hopefully the stats below will be a wake-up call. They indicate several situations that should be immediately taken advantage of, as there seems to be little reason to think the momentum will change anytime between now and October. For instance, the NL East contenders have really shored up their weaknesses and are playing very well now. The prices the rest of the way might finally reflect the changing tides, but that doesn’t mean the results will shift.
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