Sports Betting Tips

MLB betting players have been waiting for the arrival of Stephen Strasburg in the major leagues since he was drafted first overall by Washington last year, but it looks like the phenom will be making his debut sooner than later.

Strasburg will probably make his first appearance with the Nationals during a series against Pittsburgh on June 7-9 at home, and that’s probably the easiest way to work Strasburg into the rotation.  To be honest, the Nationals have been handling Strasburg with kid gloves, but his performance in the minors has made it impossible to keep the 21-year-old flamethrower down there.

Strasburg started in AA-Harrisburg, before moving up quickly to AAA-Syracuse, and he hasn’t disappointed.  Strasburg made eight starts, throwing 45.1 innings, and he had an outlandish 0.99 ERA with both teams.  He was even better with Syracuse with a 0.39 ERA, and he didn’t allow a run in his first three starts with Syracuse.  He also struck out 54 batters while walking just 10, and Strasburg gave up 22 hits.  Those numbers aren’t too bad, not in the least.

Everyone has been saying that Strasburg has the stuff to be the Nationals’ best starter, and that was on draft day.  The expectations are even higher after his routing of the minor leagues, and Washington will have to watch that they don’t burn out their star.  The Nationals have actually been playing decent baseball this year, and with 24 wins as of Thursday, they’re almost halfway to last year’s win total of 59, so it’ll be interesting to see how Strasburg handles being on a decent team.  Either way, look for a boost in Washington’s online sports betting odds when Strasburg comes up.