We had a fantastic time catching up on The Starting Lineup with Adam Burke, the Managing Editor for VSiN and host of a daily Major League Baseball podcast. With Missouri officially entering the online sports betting arena this past December, we wanted to get the absolute sharpest insights for our listeners stretching from the heart of Springfield out to Nixa, Ozark, and Republic. Adam broke down everything from the emotional I-70 rivalry to the exact metrics you need to watch to keep from getting buried by a 162-game season.

The I-70 Split: Overachieving Cardinals vs. Underachieving Royals

Adam threw some cold water on the Redbirds, noting that while St. Louis is riding high, they are fundamentally overachieving due to a 9-3 record in one-run games. Their Pythagorean win-loss and 19th-ranked team ERA scream average, meaning a regression toward a .500 baseline might be looming. On the flip side, he views the Kansas City Royals as a legitimate underachiever with a much higher ceiling. Despite slow starts from Pasquetino and Cagleone, Adam likes the rotation enough that he grabbed the Royals at 4-to-1 to win a “pillow fight” of an AL Central division following the Derek Schubel injury news.

A Beginner’s Guide to Betting the Baseball Grind

For Southwest Missouri sports fans just getting their feet wet with mobile sportsbooks, Adam offered crucial blueprint advice: pace yourself. Baseball is an absolute grind. To find an edge, he strongly recommends opening multiple accounts across books like DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM to price shop lines. Saving ten cents on a favorite (taking -120 instead of -130) is what builds long-term sustainability over a grueling six-month calendar.

While traditional fans focus entirely on the starting arms, Adam revealed that the true sharp money watches the bullpen. In today’s highly specialized “five-and-fly” era, starting pitchers are merely asked to turn the ball over to fresh high-velocity relievers. Using resources like Roster Resource on FanGraphs to track consecutive days pitched and high-leverage workloads is essential if you plan to bet full-game money lines.

We wrapped things up by bouncing around the broader sports landscape. For our deep pocket of Oklahoma City Thunder fans in Southwest Missouri, Adam noted that the Thunder are sitting pretty as a nearly flawless -175 favorite to win the NBA title , forecasting a Thunder vs. Knicks championship series. He also gave us his sharp pick for the Preakness Stakes, fading the Kentucky Derby field in favor of Taj Mahal out of the rail post.