Early Surprises in 2010 MLB Season

A month into the new baseball season and we have a few surprises developing.

In the Big Apple, the New York Yankees are challenging for the American League East lead…that doesn’t fall into the “Surprising” category…but across town, the New York Mets are fighting the Philadelphia Phillies for the National League East division, which is. Yes, it’s still early, but they have had a decent start to the season.

Online sportsbooks currently have the Metropolitans at +400 to win the NL East division.

The Mets, who have played second fiddle to the Yankees since the glory days of Hernandez, Dykstra, et al, were sitting in fourth place in the NL East at this time last year, with a 10-13 record and plenty of doom and gloom surrounding the team.  As of this past Sunday, they are 14-11 and a half game behind Philadelphia.

They start a series with the Reds in Cincinnati to kick-off the week.

Bettors have been cashing in on the Mets in their last 10 games, as they’ve booked an impressive 8-2 mark. However, they have struggled on the road, going 3-9 in their last 12 away from home.

John Maine is slated for the Tuesday night start. Bettors take note, as his last 11 road starts have not produced many winning tickets. He (and the team) have stumbled to a 2-9 mark in those games.

You can check the updated odds for this game on Monday night – Baseball Odds

San Diego Padres: The San Diego Padres are a bit of surprise team as well, currently leading the NL West (as of Sunday, they’re 1.5 games up on the San Francisco Giants).

Despite the early division lead, the Padres are still longshots to hang on a win the NL West, listed currently at +1100 at most online sportsbooks. But the sports betting public is starting to take notice, as Brian Taylor, manager at SPORTSBETTING.com reported decent betting action on San Diego “to win the division” this past week.

The Padres will host the Colorado Rockies in their next series.

San Diego have certainly been impressive in their last 16 games overall, with a record of 13-3, and even more so in their last 10 home games, going 9-1 in front of the home town fans.

Over/Under Notes: In San Diego’s last 11 games head-to-head vs. the Colorado Rockies, the Under has been money. There have been only 2 Overs, but the Under has cashed in 9 times.

The early betting action is on the visiting Rockies for the Monday start. They are a road favorite, and 68% of the betting volume is on the visitor.

Boston Red Sox: While the Padres and Mets are off to good starts, the Boston Red Sox have struggled so far in 2010.

The BoSox are fourth in the AL East and start a series with the Los Angeles Angels, who are also struggling as well, sitting near the bottom of the AL West.

In the BoSox’s last 11 games against the Angels at Fenway, they are an ugly 3-8 SU.

Will the San Diego Padres and New York Mets maintain their respective positions in their divisions?

Will the Boston Red Sox move back to the top of the AL East?

We’ll be watching as these and more storylines unfold on the young baseball season.

Good luck with the plays today.

You can check all the updated Baseball Betting Odds