After 3 consecutive 70+ win seasons, these Pirates faltered to 67 wins. They were -18 units on the season. We cannot blame them as they were in a heated NL Central. Heck, maybe they win their division if they were in the National League West. Maybe.
One thing to note about these Pirates is that they are a historically bad team against left handed pitching. It is almost always a sure thing when you see a dominant lefty facing this team. Going against these Pirates as an underdog of greater than +150 facing a lefty was 16-2 +13 units over the past 3 years. Taking underdogs with a lefty on the mound was 30-23 +11 units against thiese Pirates.
Combining the two angles, you have a 46-25 (+24 units) trend saying to go against these Pirates when they face lefties.
Trends and angles can change and the odds can always be adjusted accordingly. That is why it is important to combine trends together to find strong bets.
For example, we see that going against the Pirates in certain situations against lefties is money. We also saw, for example, betting the Giants at home versus southpaws was money. So if you see the Pirates playing at San Francisco and both teams have a lefty on the mound, you have money made by taking the Giants.
Check out our Baseball Betting Articles for addtional betting systems.