ROAD WINNERS!
Finding a pitcher who can win on the road for you can help make your betting season. Although they are often under-valued by team management, "Roadies" are beloved by all value-oriented baseball bettors, especially the underdog sniffers among us.
Our survey compares overall team winning percentage to the winning percentage when the pitcher starts in away games, using the 2005-2007 seasons combined. The same forty-seven hurlers used for "Homers" last issue were used here.
The top "Roadie" turns out to be oft-injured Rich Harden of Oakland, +.208, with Scott Kazmir of Tampa second. Kazmir went 23-22 .511 while the Rays were 76-167 .313, a +.198 difference. Harden was 10-4 while the A’s were going 125-122 on the road.
Leading Roadies: Ex-team in ( )
| pitcher, | team | win% | %v.teamwin% |
| Harden, | OAK | .714 | +.208 |
| Kazmir, | TAM | .511 | +.198 |
| Zambrano, | CHC | .653 | +.196 |
| Harang, | CIN | .580 | +.160 |
| Halladay, | TOR | .595 | +.151 |
| Santana, | NYM (MIN) | .627 | +.144 |
| Hudson, | ATL | .592 | +.118 |
| Snell, | PIT | .471 | +.108 |
| Colon, | BOS (LAA) | .636 | +.106 |
| Sheets, | MIL | .484 | +.097 |
| Oswalt, | HOU | .529 | +.097 |
| Lackey, | LAA | .623 | +.093 |
| Bedard, | SEA (BAL) | .512 | +.092 |
| Francis, | COL | .500 | +.090 |
The pitchers landing on both "Homers" (last week) and "Roadies" lists were Santana, Halladay, Harden, Francis, and Oswalt. Colon was on the home under-achiever list last week, compiling his record with the ‘05-’07 Angels.
Kazmir was 6-4 as a road favorite, and 17-18 as a road underdog, good for a combined +$9.56 @$1 per gam,e risked, as the Rays were often underdogs and never big favorites. Zambrano was even better, 20-13 +$2.81 as road fav, 12-4 +$11.30 as away ‘dog.
Under-Achievers:
| pitcher, | team | win% | %v.teamwin% |
| Santana, | LAA | .333 | -.197 |
| Silva, | SEA (MIN) | .326 | -.158 |
| Robertson, | DET | .360 | -.148 |
| Hill, | CHC | .320 | -.137 |
| Duke, | PIT | .235 | -.127 |
| Greinke, | KAN | .238 | -.108 |
| Westbrook, | CLE | .426 | -.098 |
| Wakefield, | BOS | .422 | -.088 |
Again there are some fair pitchers on the under-achiever list. Robertson was the only pitcher on the under-achieving list for home games. Santana of the Angels, who topped this list last year also, appears to be improved in road games in ‘08. Duke and Hill appeared last week as good home starters.