Baseball betting lines are not same as the lines in other sports. MLB is a money line sport where no pointspreads are involved. In baseball you just care about your team winning the game. There are no points to give as you bet on baseball. MLB betting is easy enough to understand. Here is an example of what a baseball betting line might look like at an online sportsbook.
| Philadelphia Phillies | – | Cliff Lee | 8 Under |
| New York Yankees | – | CC Sabathia | -150 |
The reason you have the pitchers listed is that some handicappers get concerned that a starting pitcher may be scratched and if that was the case they may not want to play the game. Over 95% of the time the listed starting pitcher does indeed start the game in baseball betting. In this example if you wanted the Yankees in baseball betting you would be laying 15-10. That means on a $100 wager you would risk $150 to win $100. You would get back $13 for every $10 wagered on the Phillies in this baseball betting example. If you risked $100 and the Phillies won then you would get your $100 back plus $130. Most of the time in MLB betting you will just go with the “action” on the game instead of listing pitchers since almost every time the scheduled starter does start the game.
The 8 under listed next to the pitcher’s name is the total for the game. This is the total amount of runs expected to be scored in the game as you bet on baseball. In this example if you liked under 7 runs you would lay $120 for every $100 you wanted to win on the under or the 12/10 equivalent as you bet on baseball. If you liked the over you would get even money or $100 for $100 or 10/10. The difference between $120 and $100 is the 20 cent vigorish which is attached to all MLB betting totals. Keep in mind with totals and with run lines that in the unlikely event the starting pitchers are changed the baseball betting wager would be no action.
Those are the main options you will see when looking at MLB betting lines. Most people choose to wager on sides and totals as they bet on baseball and now you know how to understand both of those baseball betting options.