No doctor needed for Morrow's arm

Baseball Betting Lines

06/25/2010 - Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Morrow appears to be doing his best Roy Halladay impression of late. Though you could argue that the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander is simply, finally, being himself.

The 6'3" Morrow has been coming into his own, most recently propelling the Blue Jays to a 5-0 win on Thursday night over the St. Louis Cardinals, helping his ballclub avoid a three-game sweep. Morrow lasted eight innings, while striking out eight and issuing only one walk.

Morrow improved to 5-1 at the Rogers Centre in Thursday's win, where he sports a 2.82 ERA in 51 innings. The youngster has struggled at times on the road, with a 0-4 record on the road and 7.09 ERA in 33 innings away from Canada, but a thaw has been detected in that ice as well.

Over his last six starts, Morrow has not allowed more than three runs in any outing and has lowered his ERA by more than two runs. While overall, his stats (5-5, 4.50) still might not look spectacular, performances like Thursday's make it obvious why the Jays were set on making him a part of the rotation. Whether Morrow's success has registered with the casual fan or not, it is safe to say that his exploits have not gone unnoticed by those wearing Blue Jays colors.

"This kid is just going to get better all the time," Jays manager Cito Gaston told the Associated Press. "We're talking No. 1 or 2 starter one of these days, as far as rotation. He's got that kind of stuff."

Apart from his first two starts of the season, where he struggled against the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox, Morrow has thrown only two poor outings, both in unfriendly environments. He allowed six runs each in road starts during May against the Boston Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Red Sox can give any pitcher trouble - just ask Roy Halladay - and Arizona hitters have a slugging percentage of .485 at home, good for second in all of baseball.

Morrow is sitting sixth in the American League with 92 strikeouts and has thrown nine quality starts this season. For comparison's sake, that is more quality starts - a much better indicator of a pitcher's success than wins and losses because of the role bullpens can play - than the Yankees' young pitching stud Phil Hughes, who boasts a record of 10-1.

Recently, Morrow has shut down nothing but worthy opponents. His last six starts dating back to May 26 have been against the Los Angeles Angels, Tampa Bay Rays, Yankees, Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants and Cardinals. All of those teams have better records than the Jays, aside from the Rockies, and are all playing above .500 ball.

"When he's able to locate and throw strikes, he has as good as stuff as anybody," Vernon Wells said of Morrow.

The 25-year-old seems to have really found his place and role in Toronto. It is all on Morrow, however. The talent is certainly there, but he will have to drastically cut down his walk rate in order to even think of becoming the anchor of this rotation. The 42 free passes Morrow has issued this year are second among American League pitchers.

There is no doubt that the Blue Jays won the offseason deal, which saw them ship Brandon League to the Mariners. Morrow was the fifth overall draft selection in 2006 for a reason, and has been showing the Blue Jays glimpses of that throughout the season. Consider this the first fleecing Alex Anthopoulos has made since taking over as GM for Toronto.

LOOKING AHEAD

Unfortunately for Toronto, the team will not be able to ride the home momentum they've received from Morrow because of the G20 summit taking place in Toronto this weekend, which forced the series to switch cities to Philadelphia.

It would have made for quite the emotional return for Roy Halladay, who was the former ace of the Blue Jays pitching staff. The uber-talented "Doctor" - slated to the open the series in Philadelphia Friday night - threw 49 complete games over his 12 years with Toronto. The Phillies shipped highly-touted prospects Kyle Drabek, Travis d'Arnaud and Michael Taylor to Toronto for the former Cy-Young winner. The Jays then immediately shipped Taylor to the Oakland Athletics for Brett Wallace, a power-hitter who has excelled at every stop on his journey towards the big leagues.

To this point, both the Phillies and Blue Jays can be content with the return they received from the deal. Halladay is the ace of a Phillies team that has won the National League pennant two years running, tossing a perfect game in May and leading the NL in innings pitched (115) and complete games with five. The Jays, on the other hand, are enjoying the development of three young players, who the club envisions as having a big stake in the team's future. So far, albeit at the minor league level, none have disappointed.

Drabek has jumped out to a 7-7 record with a 3.26 ERA for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Jays' Double-A affiliate. Wallace is batting .297 with 14 HR and 42 RBI in Triple-A for the Las Vegas 51's and is a Lyle Overbay trade away from getting the call-up. Meanwhile, d'Arnaud, the 21-year old backstop, is sporting a .276-5-28 stat line at the Class A advanced level for the Dunedin Blue Jays.

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Stanley Cup betting

New York, NY – October 3, 2007 – The dress rehearsal is over! The NHL preseason has ended and now that fans have had a glimpse of what is to come it is time to hit the book! Stanley Cup odds are live at MySportsbook.com, the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino.

The Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings remain on top of the odds charts after an impressive start in the preseason. Betting lines opened for both teams at 6-1 in June. Since then the Sens have fallen to 7-1 and the Red Wings are now caught in a pack including the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes, the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks, all at 10-1.

MySportsbook.com has also posted props on each team’s point total for the regular season. The Senators lead the charge at 108.5 followed by the Ducks at 106.5. Detroit will attempt a repeat for the prize as the Red Wings are deadlocked with the Predators at 104.5 a piece. The temporary loss of highly touted rookie Evgeni Malkin puts a lot of pressure on the stick of assistant captain Sidney Crosby - his lowly Pittsburgh Penguins are listed at 71.5.

Even if bettors are not brave enough to put their money on the underdog, an early bet on the favorites at sportsbook.com tends to produce bigger payouts than a mid-season wager. Placing a $1,000 bet last summer on the Detroit Red Wings or Ottawa Senators would have paid out to $8,000 and $10,000 respectively, opposed to a $2,500 or $3,000 payout at the beginning of the playoffs.

Stanley Cup Odds    

 Ottawa Senators
Detroit Red Wings 
Carolina Hurricanes  
San Jose Sharks     
Anaheim Ducks    
Philadelphia Flyers 
Calgary Flames     
New Jersey Devils 
Buffalo Sabres   
Dallas Stars    
New York Rangers  
Nashville Predators  
Vancouver Canucks 
Colorado Avalanche  
Minnesota Wild    
Tampa Bay Lightning    
Boston Bruins    
Florida Panthers   
Montreal Canadiens   
Atlanta Thrashers 
Toronto Maple Leafs  
Edmonton Oilers      
Phoenix Coyotes    
Los Angeles Kings      
New York Islanders   
Columbus Blue Jackets  
St. Louis Blues      
Pittsburgh Penguins 
Washington Capitals   
Chicago Blackhawks    		 7-1
10-1
10-1
10-1
10-1
12-1
12-1
12-1
12-1
15-1
15-1
15-1
20-1
20-1
25-1
25-1
30-1
30-1
30-1
30-1
30-1
30-1
40-1
40-1
50-1
50-1
80-1
80-1
100-1
100-1 

NHL Regular Season Points - Team Must Play 82 Games 

Team     
Ottawa Senators      
Anaheim Ducks 
Detroit Red Wings   
Nashville Predators 
San Jose Sharks 
Calgary Flames     
Philadelphia Flyers    
New Jersey Devils     
Buffalo Sabres    
Carolina Hurricanes       
Dallas Stars          
New York Rangers   
Minnesota Wild     
Atlanta Thrashers     
Montreal Canadiens    
Team        
Los Angeles Kings           
Tampa Bay Lightening   
Vancouver Canucks 
Boston Bruins       
Colorado Avalanche 
Edmonton Oilers  
Phoenix Coyotes  
Toronto Maple Leafs   
Florida Panthers 
Columbus Blue Jackets   
New York Islanders   
Chicago Blackhawks  
St. Louis Blues  
Washington Capitals 
Pittsburgh Penguins  		 Over/Under
108.5
106.5
104.5
104.5
103.5
101.5
100.5
99.5
97.5
97.5
97.5
95.5
94.5
93.5
92.5
Over/Under
91.5
91.5
91.5
89.5
89.5
88.5
88.5
86.5
84.5
82.5
80.5
72.5
72.5
72.5
71.5

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey sportsbook needs.

Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

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