Colorado Rockies talk with DraftKings: Early season trends and tips

First 5 Inning Bets and surprising trends at home for the Rockies

First 5 Inning bets (or F5 bets) are great to look at when you like a starting pitching matchup or if your offense starts fast. Luckily for the Rockies, both have been stellar to start as the Rockies are 12-4-4 on the F5 money line this season (this simply means they’ve been in the lead after 5 innings in 11 games, behind in 4 and tied in 4).

More interesting is the idea that the F5 Under is now 10-3 at Coors Field while full game over at Coors Field is 6-6-1. That shows how well a game can be contained early at Coors, but once bullpens come in all bets are off.

“Expect the trends to continue,” Buchanan suggested. “The thing with the Rockies is they have such a good core lineup and that’s where the money has gone…that’s such a dynamic lineup against lefties.”

And they’ve generally jumped on teams quick, leading to their convincing F5 record. At Coors Field, they’ve scored first in 9 of their 13 games.

This is another line you can bet on at sportsbooks that usually have pretty favorable odds for home teams since they don’t bat first and are thus less likely to score first. For Sunday’s games against the Rangers, for instance, the Rockies’ odds to score first are +130 while the Rangers’ odds sit at -160. With great starting pitching and a quick starting offense, this line has been very profitable so far and one I’ve liked to point out this season.

But is it a line you should follow every Rockies home game?

“I think the tough part about that is you can’t really find any stats that show it’s a good spot to take advantage of,” Buchanan pointed out. “I think that trend is 100% matchup-based. Not something I would be looking to take on a game to game basis. It’s so random. At Coors Field, obviously, with a better hitting atmosphere it’s better to look at but it’s such a random stat.”