Money Ballers – Top NL Pitchers to bet on

The MLB betting season is in full swing at BetOnline Sportsbook, and the following NL starters have been red hot for their betting backers as the season heads into May.

1) Paul Maholm, Pittsburgh Pirates (4-0, +$480) There are only two pitchers in the NL that have posted four ‘W’s for their teams in this young season, but there hasn’t been any better in the league than Maholm. The lefty had a shaky outing this week against the Fish (four earned runs in six innings of work), but thanks to a strong offensive effort, picked up the win. He’s done a good job this year of limiting pitches, and still has solid numbers across the board, and the only concern is a low K/9 (3.38).

2) Chad Billingsley, Los Angeles Dodgers (4-0, +$400) Dodgers bettors are still having tremendous luck with their star righty on the mound. They still haven’t won one of his starts in which he didn’t get the win since 2007, but as long as he keeps pitching like this, they won’t mind. Billingsley threw 7.1 scoreless frames in Houston last week, and has now had four straight quality starts. Opposing teams are only averaging 2.0 runs per game in his starts.

3) Russ Ortiz, Houston Astros (3-0, +$374) There isn’t much to write home about for Astros’ bettors, but Ortiz has provided a bright spot in an otherwise dull season. He’s thrown a whopping 212 pitches to complete 10.0 innings of work in his L/2 starts, but they were both victories. Still, only managing five innings per start with an ERA over 5.00 and a K/BB ratio of less than 1.0 isn’t going to get it done long term without a lot of luck.

4) Braden Looper, Milwaukee Brewers (3-0, +$352) Speaking of pitchers that aren’t being economical but still posting wins… Looper has thrown at least 93 pitches in all three of his starts this season, but hasn’t done better than 6.0 innings in any of those outings. He’s 2-0, and the Brew Crew is 3-0. The difference between Looper and Ortiz is that Looper’s ERA is only 2.12 after six shutout frames in Philly this week.

5) Chan Ho Park, Philadelphia Phillies (3-0, +$352) Who would’ve thunk that the name Chan Ho Park would ever appear on a list like this again? Don’t get so excited. Park has three no-decisions to his credit this year, and left all three of his starts with the Phils losing. They came back in all three games to pick up victories, but Park’s 7.16 ERA just isn’t going to cut it at the MLB level for the duration of the season.

6) Eric Stults, Los Angeles Dodgers (3-0, +$321) In his first full season in the majors, Stults has proven his value to the Dodgers. He isn’t pitching deep into games (averaging just under 5.1 innings per start), but he’s keeping LA in ballgames and giving a chance for the bullpen to do its work. The lefty does need to cut down on his pitch count though, as he is averaging over 18.0 pitches per frame.

7) Joel Pineiro, St. Louis Cardinals (3-0, +$300) Pineiro may finally be turning out to be the solid pitcher that came up through Seattle’s farm system all those years ago. The righty tossed eight innings and only gave up a pair of runs against the Mets last week, as he out-dueled John Maine for the victory. He didn’t strike any Mets out, but only allowed six hits and walked two. Look for better things from Pineiro this season.