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Blue Jays Smart Bet System 🍁⚾

A terminal-based betting assistant for Toronto Blue Jays games. Built in COBOL with Python data fetchers. Pulls live data from the MLB Stats API and ranks home-run candidates using a weighted statistical model.

What It Does

This is a curses-style TUI app that helps you make smarter bets on Blue Jays games by surfacing the batters most likely to hit home runs against the upcoming opposing pitcher.

Features

Feature Description
📅 Schedule Viewer Last 7 days + next 7 days of Jays games with scores
📝 Bet Recorder Log and track your wagers with timestamps
💣 HR Tracker Predicts top home-run candidates for the next game
🌬️ Weather Impact Wind direction & speed, temperature bonuses
⚾ Pitcher Vulnerability Starting pitcher HR/9 factored into every score
🤜🤛 Head-to-Head History Career HR count vs the exact pitcher facing them
✅ Lineup Confirmation Switches from roster preview to confirmed starters
🔄 Live Refresh Pull fresh data from MLB API anytime

Quick Demo

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ BLUE JAYS SMART BET SYSTEM               HR TRACKER         │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│                                                             │
│ 2026-05-03 Minnesota Twins     Target Field   16:45        │
│ WEATHER: Unknown     WIND: 0mph            TEMP: ??  F     │
│ JAYS HR/9: 1.13   OPP HR/9: 0.97                           │
│ MODE: PREV PITCHER: Joe Ryan         HAND: R HR/9: 0.70    │
│                                                             │
│ NAME               POS GM HR AB vH AVG  SCORE              │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ Kazuma Okamoto    3B  5  3 20   .300   20.0               │
│ Daulton Varsho    CF  5  1 20 1 .200   19.4               │
│ Brandon ValenzuelaC   5  2 12   .333   14.0               │
│ Andres Gimenez    SS  5  0 19 1 .105   13.8               │
│ Ernie Clement     2B  5  1 19   .158    8.0               │
│ Lenyn Sosa        2B  5  1 19   .316    8.0               │
│ Myles Straw       RF  5  1 11   .182    8.0               │
│ Davis Schneider   LF  5  0  8   .125    2.0               │
│ George Springer   DH  5  0 13   .308    2.0               │
│ Jesus Sanchez     LF  5  0 17   .059    2.0               │
│                                                             │
│ Press ENTER to return to menu.                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

How the Score Works

Each batter gets a Score (0–100) based on six weighted factors:

Factor Weight What It Means
Recent Power HRs in last 5 / Games × 30 Hot batters score higher
Wind +4 to +20 Blowing OUT at 15mph = +20
Opp Bullpen HR/9 (HR/9 − 0.80) × 12 Team-wide pitching vulnerability
Starter HR/9 (HR/9 − 0.80) × 15 The biggest situational factor
Temperature +2 to +8 85°F = +8 (ball carries farther)
H2H History HRs vs pitcher × 8 + OPS × 5 Past success against this exact pitcher

Example: Daulton Varsho vs Joe Ryan

  • Recent: 1 HR in 5 games → base = 6.0
  • Starter HR/9: 0.70 (below 0.80) → 0 bonus
  • Head-to-head: 1 career HR vs Ryan in 10 AB, OPS .682 → +11.4
  • Total Score: 19.4

Build & Run

Dependencies

  • GnuCOBOL ≥ 3.1 (with SCREEN / curses support)
  • Python 3 (stdlib only: urllib, json, datetime, re, unicodedata)
  • Internet connection (MLB Stats API)

macOS / Linux

# Build
cobc -x -Wall jays_bet.cbl -o jays_bet

# Run
./jays_bet

What Happens on First Run

  1. fetch_jays.py pulls schedule & scores → jays_data.txt
  2. fetch_hr_tracker.py pulls stats, weather, and lineups → hr_tracker_data.txt
  3. The COBOL TUI launches with a live menu

Menu Options

# Option When to Use
1 View Historical Game Data Check past results
2 Record New Bet Log a wager before the game
3 View My Bets Review your bet history
4 Refresh Data from API Update scores / weather / lineups
5 Home Run Tracker The main event — see HR predictions
6 Exit Close the app

Betting Tips

When to Trust the Tracker

Confidence Signal Action
🟢 High MODE: CONF + Score ≥ 25 + vH > 0 Strong HR prop candidate
🟡 Medium MODE: PREV + Score ≥ 25 Good signal; verify batter is starting
🔴 Low Pitcher HR/9 < 0.8 + Score < 15 Pitcher suppresses HRs; avoid

MODE: PREV vs MODE: CONF

  • PREV (Preview) — Lineup not posted yet. Uses the full active roster (~13 players). Good for morning research.
  • CONF (Confirmed) — Starting lineup is locked in (usually 2–3 hours before first pitch). Only the 9 starters are ranked. This is your green light for placing bets.

Pro tip: Run the tracker in the morning for a preview. Hit Refresh 30–60 minutes before first pitch to lock in the confirmed lineup and final weather.

Architecture

MLB Stats API
      │
      ▼
┌─────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐
│  fetch_jays.py  │────▶│  jays_data.txt  │
│(schedule/scores)│     │  (fixed-width)  │
└─────────────────┘     └─────────────────┘
                              │
┌─────────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────────┐
│ fetch_hr_tracker.py │────▶│ hr_tracker_data.txt │
│ (stats/weather/H2H) │     │   (fixed-width)     │
└─────────────────────┘     └─────────────────────┘
                                  │
                            ┌─────▼─────┐
                            │  jays_bet │
                            │  (COBOL)  │
                            │  SCREEN   │
                            │   SECTION │
                            └───────────┘

Data Flow

  • Python handles all API calls, parsing, and score math.
  • COBOL handles the TUI, user input, and file I/O.
  • Both sides communicate through fixed-width text files with exact byte layouts.

File Reference

File Purpose
jays_bet.cbl Main COBOL application (SCREEN SECTION TUI)
fetch_jays.py Schedule & scores fetcher
fetch_hr_tracker.py HR prediction engine
GUIDE.md Deep-dive metric reference & troubleshooting
.gitignore Excludes generated data files

Generated at Runtime

File Description
jays_data.txt 49-byte fixed-width game records
hr_tracker_data.txt 104-byte header + 41-byte player records
bets.dat COBOL sequential file for recorded bets
jays_bet Compiled binary

API Attribution

Data provided by the MLB Stats API (© MLB Advanced Media, L.P.). This is an unofficial fan project and is not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the Toronto Blue Jays.

License

MIT — use at your own risk. Gambling involves financial loss. This tool is for informational purposes only.

More Info

For the full metric reference, troubleshooting guide, and byte-level file format specs, see GUIDE.md.