Baseball is often called America’s favorite pastime. The nickname remains from a bygone era, when baseball actually was the most popular game in the country. Recently, however, football has overtaken the sport’s popularity.
The Success of Baseball
However, baseball has not veined. It remains the second most popular sport in the United States, and internationally, it enjoys a much greater success than American football, which is still mainly popular in the USA, and parts of Canada.
Of course, online sportsbooks are also quite familiar with baseball. It remains an incredibly popular sport to wager on, and baseball betting odds are almost always incredibly popular. Recently, the sport has become even more of a sensation, thanks to the introduction of prop bets. Let’s go over some popular ones.
Player Performance Props
One of the most popular sub-category of prop bets are those that involve wagering on an individual player’s performance. Here, you can find prop bets that depend on one player performing (or failing to perform) a certain task. Examples would include things like:
- Player to Strikeout: a wager on whether a pitcher will strike out the batter.
- Hits and Runs: wagering on the number of hits and runs a player will score during a game.
- Stolen Bases: betting on whether a player will steal a base during the game.
- Home Run: the crème-de-la-crop of baseball props is whether a player will get a home run.
Team Performance Props
Despite the notable baseball players who rise above their rank, baseball still remains a team sport. So, it is only fair that there be prop bets on the team’s performance during a game. Bookies will often create odds for a whole baseball team, so let us take a look at some notable ones.
- Total Runs: bet on how many runs a team will score throughout the game.
- First Team to Score: bet on which of the two teams will be the first to get a point on the board.
- Winning Margin: wager on the margin between both teams’ scores.
- Most Strikeouts: wager on which teams’ pitchers will perform the most strikeouts.
Game Props
Some props require you to wager on things that are outside of either team’s control. A player may never achieve a home run during a game, but at least they are trying their best to get one. On the other hand, there is not much a player or team can do to decide who will pitch and who will bat first. So, let us take a look at some props that are outside either teams’ control.
- First to Pitch/Bat: a wager on which of the two teams will be the first to pitch or bat.
- Total Home Runs: a wager on the total home runs during a game, from both teams.
- Errors: a bet on the total number of errors committed during the game.
- Weather Props: sometimes, the weather can mess up a game. Weather props require fans to bet on whether there will be a rain delay, or not.