Phillies Continue to Disappoint Baseball Bettors

Phillies Betting News

The Philadelphia Phillies have continued to underachieve in the second half of the Major League Baseball season, entering Sunday's action in fourth place in the NL East a full 19 games back of the red hot Atlanta Braves. The only 'silver lining' to this dark cloud is that they have an 8 game advantage over last place Miami—though this is a dubious distinction for a team that had hopes of finishing with a winning record this season.


In addition to disappointing Phillies fans this summer the late season swoon has also hurt the pocketbooks of sports betting enthusiasts that have 'financially backed' the team. Since baseball betting is based on moneylines the prices teams are assigned for each game go a long way in determining whether they're a profitable investment or a money loser. For example, a bad team that is routinely a +180 in MLB odds or higher underdog can turn a profit with a sub .500 record while a good team that is commonly a -180 or higher favorite can lose money despite a winning mark.


This fact has been of little consolation of bettors who've backed the Phillies—the team has been a big money loser in almost every setting. Overall the team's 52-64 record has produced a loss of -17.65 units making Philadelphia the second biggest money loser in the National League behind the bumbling San Francisco Giants (-23.55). Factor in the teams in the American League and their 'profit and loss statements' and the Phillies are the fourth biggest money loser in all of Major League Baseball.


Philadelphia's biggest liability has been a poor road record. At home the team is 29-27, though this record has produced -3.95 units of losses for bettors. They've been a disaster away from Citizens Bank Park, however, with a dismal road record of 23-37. A bettor that backed the Phillies in every road game this year would have realized a loss of -13.6 units. Many teams have a losing road record, of course, but even so the double digit unit loss is a sign that the Phillies have simply underachieved away from home.


In terms of the individual starting pitchers and their profit/loss performance it'll be no surprise to Phillies' fans that Cole Hamels has been a huge money loser. Hamels is, in fact, the biggest money loser of all Major League Baseball pitchers having dropped -17.9 units this season. The other big name lefthander in the Phillies rotation has also cost bettors money, though nowhere near as much—Cliff Lee is -2.4 units on the season.


One of the few areas of good news comes in the performances of some of the Phillies 'unsung heroes' of the pitching staff. Kyle Kendrick is +3.9 units this season and John Lannan is +1.4 units. The Phillies have split Ethan Martin's two starts but that has produced a fractional profit (+0.1 unit) for baseball bettors.

With the exception of the Atlanta Braves who have all but clinched the NL East at this point none of the Phillies divisional rivals are playing particularly well. For that reason there may be some good value opportunity in divisional matchups going forward—in particular, home games with any of the Phils' righthanded pitchers starting might be a good place to find some betting value in what has otherwise been a forgettable season for Philadelphia baseball.