Baseball is a unique sport in that it is easy to identify situations where not to bet on a team and that is because it is all done by the moneyline. In sports such as football and basketball, the spread is a great equalizer. If a team is playing on zero days rest or stuck in a slump, the spread can easily be moved to their favor.

The first item I look at is how they have played L10 games. If they have won fewer than 5 games in their past 10 outings, it is usually a red flag that the team is struggling and not to play them. Left-handed pitchers are not as common as right-handed pitchers despite the most dominant pitchers being lefties. As a result, you can easily find teams that struggle against left-handed pitching. For example, the Mets are 4-13 this season on the road versus left-handed pitching.

Poor offensive production is another key element to avoid. When a team cannot score runs, it does not mater how good a team's pitcher is. Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros is a prime example this season. Despite having one of the best ERAs over the past 20 seasons, the Rocket just does not get any offensive production. The Astros have been shut out 7 times while he was on the mound this season alone.

Avoiding road teams in the first game of a series is another situation worthy of avoiding. To play in the first game of a series, it is a guarantee that the road team will have had to travel the night before. Often traveling the night before, team's can be tired and failing to put out their best effort. Since 9 of the 10 meaningful players on a baseball team are position players, going up against a rest opposing pitcher can be trouble.

This highlights just 4 of the many situations I use to NOT pick a team when betting on baseball.

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