A look back at 2015 MLB prop bets
Apologies for being a little late on this, but it’s a topic I wanted to revisit. Obviously if you bet on any of these preseason MLB prop bets, you know how they turned out, but for the rest of us – here’s a look.
Prior to the season, I published a list of some over/under bets that were being offered for the 2015 regular season and now I’m going back and seeing where the smart money was.
Highest Save Total By A Pitcher Over/Under 48.5
Pirates closer Mark Melancon finished the year with 51 saves.
Highest Strikeout Total By A Pitcher O/U 255.5
Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer and Chris Sale all hit the over in this category. Kershaw struck out 301 batters, Scherzer 276 and Sale 274.
Highest Home Run Total By A Batter O/U 42.5
Chris Davis led the league with 47 homers and Nelson Cruz hit 44, both going over the total.
Highest RBI Total By A Batter O/U 127.5
Nolan Arenado’s 130 RBIs would have hit the over.
Highest Hit Total By A Batter O/U 210.5
Dee Gordon led the league with 205 hits, falling just 5.5 hits shy of the mark.
Highest Stolen Base Total By A Player O/U 62.5
Dee Gordon’s 58 stolen bases led the league, but weren’t enough to hit the over.
Highest Batting Average By A Batter O/U .340
Miguel Cabrera hit .338.
Highest Win Total By A Pitcher O/U 20.5
Jake Arrieta’s 22 wins would have won this bet for those that picked the over. Consider that a 23rd win for Arrieta.
Will Any Pitcher Pitch A Perfect Game Yes (+200) No (-300)
Nope.
How Many No-Hitters Will There Be In Regular Season? O/U 4.5
Perhaps there should have been a bet about Max Scherzer’s no-hitters as the right-hander threw two of them himself. While Scherzer’s efforts would not have hit the over, the bet includes the whole league and Scherzer’s peers helped him out. All in all there were a stunning seven no-hitters in 2015.