Many people, myself included, were glued to their TVs or devices to watch the Sportsbook games of the MLB season, which had its delayed Sportsbook Day take place on July 23. Now, after what seemed to be a successful weekend, the outcome of the remainder of the season seems murky amid a growing number of cases of COVID-19.
The Miami Marlins have had at least 13 personnel – players and coaches – test positive for the virus, leading to the cancellation of their game Monday vs the Baltimore Orioles.
Updating the Miami Marlins’ outbreak: The total number of infected players is 11 of the 33 who have been traveling with the team and two coaches, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 27, 2020
The Marlins-Orioles and Yankees-Phillies games tonight have been postponed. For now, the rest may be played.
Additionally, the Philadelphia Phillies, who played the Marlins over the weekend, had their game with the New York Yankees postponed as further testing occurs.
Tonight’s Yankees-Phillies game is cancelled, source tells The Athletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 27, 2020
Sportsbook
This just begs the question of whether we will get a conclusion to the 2020 MLB season and a World Series champion crowned, or if we will have to wait until 2021. Online sportsbook Sportsbook has released odds on whether the MLB campaign will be suspended, with “Yes” being the overwhelming favorite at -575 and “No” coming back at +360.
| Option | Odds |
|---|---|
| Yes | -575 |
| No | +360 |
Odds as of July 27 at Sportsbook
See Odds Shark’s Best MLB Sites
The prop bet originally opened with “Yes” set at -250 and “No” at +185, but within 30 minutes the line moved drastically.
Where Do We Go From Here? Is There Value On ‘No’?
Having positive coronavirus tests isn’t unexpected by any means, especially with MLB electing to forgo the “bubble” settings the NBA and NHL decided to adopt with their sports set to begin later this week. However, perhaps the league was expecting the odd case here and there, rather than essentially half of a team becoming infected.
It’s really hard to say what the next steps are for MLB. Of course, they went through hurdles just to get players back on the diamond in the first place and to play just one weekend and then shut it all down again would be a surprising result.
Anticipation is that results of today’s tests will be back by tomorrow (use of Rutgers lab, within driving distance of Philadelphia, presumably helps expedite process). Determination then could be made on tomorrow night’s game. https://t.co/Nsd8hKOIcx
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 27, 2020
I think these test results for the Phillies are going to really show us the future. If a bunch of those players are infected as well, then you have two teams that essentially will be inactive for at least two weeks. If it is only those two teams, I don’t think we will see a suspension of play, but I have no clue how they will try to make up 10 or so games in an already shortened and condensed season.
Conversely, I don’t think the ship is sailing on smooth waters, though. Two teams may be OK but if we see maybe five or six teams affected within the first full week of the regular season, then play will cease, in my eyes. Perhaps it will turn out only Miami personnel were infected. If that’s the case, you sit the team out and do doubleheaders when it can return. Shooting in the dark here, but I think No at +360 is where the value lies at this point. Ask me in a week’s time and I could be singing a completely different tune.
How To Read MLB Season Return Odds
When you check out your sportsbook of choice for MLB betting props like will there be a 2020 regular season, you’ll see prop odds that look something like this:
Yes -165
No +125
To bet on these odds, you would be making a prop bet – more on that in a bit. In this case, Yes is the favorite as it has a minus sign (-) in front of the odds. No would be considered the underdog for this prop.
If you think there will be an MLB season and you bet $100 on Yes, you would win $160.61. That’s your original $100 back and $60.61 of profit. On the flip side, if you think a season isn’t going to happen and you bet $100 on No, you’d win $225 – your original wager of $100 is returned along with $125 in profit.
Our Odds Calculator will show you how much you’d win based on the odds and amount bet.
What is a Prop Bet?
A baseball prop is a bet on the occurrence or non-occurrence of certain outcomes that may not necessarily determine the outcome of a baseball game. You can make a bet like this as soon as the odds are announced. If you see odds you like, place your bet immediately, otherwise the action could move so much that you’ll barely make a profit or maybe even not make one at all.
