Just the other day, I was wondering when we'd see our first snow of the baseball season. That day comes today, as Denver will have some very crazy weather. Unfortunately, baseball isn't football. They don't play rain or shine, so tonight's Braves-Rockies game will not be played.
There's still plenty of other games on which weather will have a big impact, including two games in the Windy City, which will be … windy.
A Trip To The Lab
The Windy City is living up to its name today, both at Wrigley Field and Guaranteed Rate Field. Winds of 11 to 13 mph will be blowing in from left/from left to right for the Rays-White Sox game this afternoon, while winds approaching 20 mph will be blowing in from right for the Pirates-Cubs game tonight.
If we go to Bet Labs and look at windy games in Chicago excluding when the wind is blowing out to left, center or right, we see that the under has been quite profitable.
Any other type of double-digit winds help knock the ball down, which turns plenty of potential home runs into outs in the long run.
Highest Weather Ratings
- Braves at Rockies (PPD): 74
- Yankees at Astros: 73
- Mariners at Royals: 73
Weather Ratings are a proprietary number created by FantasyLabs, which are on a 0-100 scale, with 100 being the best hitting atmosphere and 0 being the best pitching atmosphere. Weather Rating takes into account temperature, wind speed, wind direction, stadium elevation, humidity and atmospheric pressure.
You know your ballpark is different than most when it's going to be 40 degrees, thunderstorms that turn to blizzards and 15 mph winds blowing straight in, but you still have a better Weather Rating than anyone else. That's what's going down at Coors today. Too bad they decided to postpone, but I suppose a blizzard warning is going to have that effect.
There will definitely be a game in Houston tonight and it looks like they'll be keeping the roof open for a third straight day. The temperature will be in the upper 70s with a stiff breeze blowing out to left. If for some reason they do decide to close the roof, the rating will drop down to a neutral 50.
Kansas City has very similar conditions, but the wind at Kauffman should make more of an impact than it will at Minute Maid Park. Righties will be trying to pull the ball in the air to left (or at least they should be), as winds upwards of 15 mph will be blowing those fly balls into the seats.
Lowest Weather Ratings
- Rays at White Sox: 17
- Indians at Tigers: 21
- Pirates at Cubs: 22
As I mentioned up top, both Chicago games will be rather windy. I have yet to mention that they'll be cold, too, with temperatures right around 40 degrees. Does not sound like a pleasant day at the ballpark.
The total at Wrigley just opened up at about 10 a.m. ET at a measly 7, so it will be interesting to see if bettors drop this down into the 6.5 range. One thing to note — no winds are going to help Yu Darvish not walk every other batter. He has 11 walks in 6.2 innings this year. Hey, Yu, just pitch to contact today. It'll take a mighty blast to do any damage in these winds.
Trevor Bauer will look to keep his strong pitching going in Detroit this afternoon and will certainly be happy to see this forecast. Strong left to right winds should help knock down fly balls, and some sharp betting activity has pushed the over/under down from 7.5 to 7 so far.
Inclement Weather
- Rays at White Sox
- Braves at Rockies (PPD)
- Pirates at Cubs
There will be some rain to go along with that wind in Chicago today, as a band of precipitation will roll through the area this afternoon. It shouldn't impact the Cubs game, which is surprisingly at night, as the system should be out of the area, but it will likely impact the White Sox game to a degree.
