Baseball Bytes – MLB Betting Info and Tips – April 11, 2025

Baseball Bytes – MLB Betting Info and Tips – April 11, 2025

We are a couple of weeks into a new baseball season, and as expected, there are elements we did not see coming at all. We’ll explain in just a moment; we just wanted you to know this will be a weekly resource for you at GamblersWORLD.com.

Early Shockers (Good)

If you had Detroit, Philadelphia, Texas, the Yankees and the Chicago Cubs leading their respective divisions, nothing is out of line there. But what about San Diego in first place? And it’s crazy to see Toronto, L.A. Angels and San Francisco near the top of their divisions?

The Blue Jays are far from a good team to bet on unless they are playing at Fenway Park it seems. Toronto has gotten great pitching in Boston and taken advantage of the Red Sox’s quiet bats. It’s early, but the Jays’ starting pitching has been lights out at #2 in run prevention.

If you followed our Spring Training reports, we talked about how the Giants could be an OVER team for season win total. Their offense is based on getting players on base and moving runners. That’s what we have seen from them thus far, which explains their 9-3 start.

San Diego has star power. The concern was the off-the-field ownership conundrum, which may become a problem if the Padres prove better than anticipated, when they might want to add a pitcher or another bat, but are hamstrung and tied up in the court system. That’s for later to worry about, as the Friars’ are Top 10 in scoring offense and run prevention.

Be honest, who didn’t roll their eyes when the Los Angeles Angels signed a number of good veteran players who can still be effective, yet are largely past their prime? The Halos are heading to Houston and later Arlington and are 4-0 in series wagering. Having Mike Trout and at least harder-working veterans (that discounts Anthony Rendon) has lightened the load on younger players. Even if the Angels can go .500 in the Lone Star State, having an 11-7 record playing 15 of their first 18 games on the road would be a good number for almost any club.

Early Shocker (Bad)

There could be others that qualify, but Atlanta with three wins is a shocker. The Braves’ offensive was off-kilter a year ago, mainly because of injuries after leading baseball in runs scored in 2023. Does Atlanta miss Ronald Acuna? No question. Yet, this squad had the third-lowest odds to win the World Series, with everyone understanding Acuna would be back in May sometime. Possibly, 2023 was an outlier year for Atlanta’s offense, nevertheless, this is a sad-looking lineup outside of Marcel Ozuna.

Analyzing Run Lines

Baseball bettors can’t place too much into early season results. Instead of looking at the standings or money line results, the standard run line can be a good barometer at the top and bottom of the scale. Here are the Top RL records.

Toronto 10-3
San Francisco 8-4
Miami 8-4
Philadelphia 8-4

The Blue Jays are playing beyond expectations, as is San Francisco, as we covered above. Miami at .500 has performed above anticipated results and stayed in games to the end as underdogs. Philadelphia had lofty goals for 2025 and to this point, they are meeting them.

Here is the bottom of the barrel as a new season moves forward.

Tampa Bay 3-10
Colorado 4-8
Pittsburgh 4-9
Milwaukee 4-8

The Rays’ #25 scoring offense is keeping them from covering more spreads. Granted, playing in a foreign park outside of a few exhibition games annually with the Yankees does not give them much of a home-field edge. Nonetheless, having played 9 of 12 in a far more intimate park where the fans sit close should help, along with Yankee Stadium-light dimensions to right field. This should add to the Rays offense. It certainly has for the opposing clubs.

Nobody changes facial expression seeing the Rockies and Pirates on this list.

Milwaukee had lower expectations coming in this season. Their 0-4 season-starting debacle didn’t help. The Brew Crew has turned it around record-wise, yet, at 3-0 in one-run games as favorites doesn’t suggest a great play.

Get more MLB betting advice from Doug Upstone here and purchase Doug’s Premium picks here.