It's Opening Day of the 2023 MLB season and already we are seeing some records being broken.
The Atlanta Braves are currently receiving 95% of the moneyline tickets on the road against the Washington Nationals with first pitch set for 1:05 P.M. ET.
Why is that important? Well, in our Bet Labs database, which has betting percentages dating back to 2005, no team has closed with a moneyline bet percentage above 88% .. none.
That is a total of 269 games and 538 teams in that span, with the 2023 Braves coming out on top.
The record prior to Thursday were the Los Angeles Angels, who received 88% of the bets against the Oakland Athletics back in 2012. The pitching matchup? Jered Weaver against Bruce Chen.
That day, the Angels shut out the Athletics 5-0, winning the moneyline bet for their bettors at a -210 price and covering the run line for those who shied away from the juice.
To show just how large a bet percentage the Braves have today, only two teams have closed with 85% of the moneyline tickets or more on opening day in this span.
The other was the 2014 Yankees team behind CC Sabathia, who actually lost to Scott Feldman and the Royals on the road in Kansas City.
How do highly bet moneyline percentage teams tend to perform on Opening Day? Well, it's been some run for the favorites.
Since 2005, teams with 80% of the moneyline tickets or higher on Opening Day are 21-3 straight up, with a $100 bettor up $827. The three upsets:
- 2014 Astros over the Yankees
- 2008 Royals over the Tigers
- 2007 Royals over the Red Sox
Teams with 80% of moneyline tickets or higher on Opening Day have actually won 10 consecutive games dating back to that 2014 Yankees loss to the Astros.
Check out the full Action Network MLB public betting percentages and baseball data here!
