If last year’s finish to the regular season is any indication, we could be in for a wild ride once again in 2012. The MLB decided to add an extra Wild Card spot for both leagues, and the intention was to create more endings like the one baseball fans witnessed on the final day of the regular season a year ago, when the Boston Red Sox epic collapse was paired with the Tampa Bay Rays’ improbable comeback in a reversal of Wild Card fortunes. With such a long and drawn-out season it will be hard for baseball to ever duplicate the way that night played out ever again, but that doesn’t mean we won’t still get the chance to witness some memorable moments of their own this coming summer.
While the seasons have changed, some of the storylines remain the same, as is the case with the Tampa Bay Rays. Once again considered the sports betting underdog that has enough talent to make a surprise playoff run, nobody will be countingTampaBay out. However, despite one of the more talented rotations in baseball with David Price and James Shields leading the way, the Rays don’t have a ton of offense, and will struggle with consistency over stretches. How well they manage to remain in contention for anAL playoff spot will depend a lot on how their starting rotation fares.
As for the Red Sox, a season that ended in turmoil didn’t result in the expected fire sale changes that many pay head bookies expected would come. Aside from casting aside their general manager and clubhouse manager, thisBoston team will be largely comprised of the same pieces that contended for a playoff spot a year ago, but with a renewed sense of urgency throughout. While the focus will remain on the Red Sox epic late season collapse, fans are quick to forget about how slow this team started out of the gate as World Series favorites, and that some better numbers early on would have allowed that team to avoid their collapse altogether.Boston isn’t that far from being a legitimate World Series contender, and if they start fast this season then look out.
The American League wasn’t the only side that experienced that late season drama in 2011, as the National League was where Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals made their run to beat out the Atlanta Braves for the NL Wild Card on route to a championship parade. Pujols is gone to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, but the Cardinals will welcome back breakout stars David Freese and Jon Jay, as well as starting pitcher Adam Wainwright, who missed all of last season due to injury. As for Atlanta, the expectation is that Jason Heyward and Martin Prado both bounce back, and that will be the difference in them clinching one of the NL playoff spots. However, with the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals looking to claw their way in to the playoff picture, and the Philadelphia Phillies already considered the World Series favorites, baseball betting fans might not be buying in to the idea that the Braves are a team built for the postseason.
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