Five Surprisingly Profitable Pitchers
Every year at about this team I like to take a look at the stats to see the pitchers that have been very good to bettors. There are always several big names that you would expect -Halladay , Santana, and so on. What I find more interesting, though, are the players that no one is talking about, and in many cases that few people even know about who are turning out serious money. It happens every year like clockwork – no name guys are wildly profitable. Determining in advance who those guys will be is very tough, of course, but you can profit by recognizing who is being successful ahead of the betting public. With that in mind, here’s a look at five guys who are doing much better than they are widely getting credit for:
Matt Palmer, Angels - After breaking in with San Francisco last year, Palmer moved south for this season. He gets almost no national attention, but he is the single-most profitable pitcher in the entire league. He’s 5-0 in seven starts, and the team is 6-1 behind him. He’s not fancy – his ERA is over four, and he has as many career walks as strikeouts – but he has got the job done consistently, and the lines he’s facing haven’t yet caught up to how he is playing.
Eric Stults, Dodgers – Stults has been the second most profitable all year. He’s a journeyman who has bounced around with the Dodgers for a few years now. In nine starts this year the team is an impressive 7-2. It gets better, too – his record is just 4-2, so he doesn’t look as good as he has been. That leads to better prices for bettors. Again, is ERA isn’t great and he walks too many batters, but it’s just working for him this year, and it’s working at sweet prices to boot.
Brian Bannister, Royals – Zack Greinke might be getting all the press in Kansas City, but Bannister is the one who is delivering for bettors. The team is 6-2 behind him. He’s a particularly useful type of guy to pay attention to – he’s a talented pitcher, but he’s had a couple of lackluster years, so the generally held public opinion is that he is worse than he actually is.
Josh Johnson, Marlins – This is a bit of a different case than the others on this list – I was not alone before the season in thinking that Johnson could be due for a breakout. He’s got great stuff, and it’s showing this year. The team is 8-3 behind him, and he often wins with decent prices – they are the Marlins after all. He’s probably got the best chance of sustaining his position on this list of anyone – his ERA is 2.66, and he has about 3.5strikeouts for every walk. In other words, the guy is one heck of a pitcher. In typical Florida fashion, that means that he’ll soon be elsewhere.
Kevin Slowey, Minnesota - Last year, Slowey was 12-11 for the Twins. So far this year he is 8-1. His numbers aren’t that different – his ERA is virtually identical to last year, and he has always been very stingy with walks. For some reason, though, he’s just getting results. Better yet, it’s Minnesota, so no one has noticed how good he is doing.
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Tags: Brian Bannister, Eric Stults, Josh Johnson, Kevin Slowey, Matt Palmer
