Number of games
Every season, each franchise plays 162 games: that’s a lot of games! Baseball is not as intense as basketball or football. Therefore, it is possible to play all the games with your main athletes, without major injury or fatigue problems.
However, not everybody plays that often. The starting pitchers, for example, usually receive more time off. For this reason, the squad has a rotation of five players from this position.
Season length
The 2021 MLB season started on April 1, 2020 and is scheduled to end only on October 3. The organisers chose these months because of the weather conditions. The league is played during spring, summer and early winter to avoid low temperatures.
Participating teams
In total, 30 teams participate in each MLB season. Remember the National League and the American League, which merged to form MLB? They still exist, and are home to 15 teams each. Both the AL and NL have three regional divisions.
To make it easier to understand, take a look at the arrangement of franchises in the leagues and divisions.
- American League – Eastern Division
- Tampa Bay Rays;
- New York Yankees;
- Boston Red Sox;
- Toronto Blue Jays;
- Baltimore Orioles.
It is worth noting that there are games between teams from different divisions. However, most of them are matches of teams from the same division, totaling 19 against the same franchise.
Besides, MLB promotes rivalries. Every season, historical archrivals must meet during the championship.
You must have thought: “is it time to find out how to bet on MLB live?
Not yet, but it won’t be long now.
Regular season calendar
Unlike the NBA, NHL and MLS, MLB matches are played in series. That is, there are four consecutive duels between the teams, on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, for example.
Playoffs
After 162 games, it is time for the playoffs. Only 10 of the 30 teams have the privilege to play in this phase, including the champions of each division and two teams with the best record in the NL and AL.
These last two franchises must play the Wild Card, a kind of playoff to determine the fourth runner-up from each league. And that is in only one game: the winner advances.
After that, with four teams in each league, a five-game series will take place. The winners of these series then face each other in a best-of-seven series in the league finals.
Finally, the National League and American League champions face each other in the Worlds Series, the official name of the MLB finals.
1×2
In a similar fashion to basketball, the 1×2 market is about pinpointing the winner of the match. It’s worth noting that you have a 50% chance of winning. After all, there are no ties in baseball games.
If the tie is even in the ninth and last inning, more and more innings will be played until the winner is declared.
Handicap
Used to even out games between strong and weak teams, handicapping places a disadvantage on the favourite. For example, if you see Yankees -2.5, the New York franchise must win by at least three points.
Over/under
In it, you can tell if the match will end with more or less than “x” points, similar to football’s “Over/Under Goals”.
