Rangers vs. White Sox Odds
| Rangers Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline | Total | Run Line |
| -138 | 8.5 -108 / -112 | -1.5 +118 |
| White Sox Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline | Total | Run Line |
+118 | 8.5 -108 / -112 | +1.5 -142 |
We've got a mouth-watering pitching matchup awaiting us on Tuesday night when the Rangers and White Sox send two highly regarded arms to the mound in Nathan Eovaldi and Dylan Cease. What are the chances one of these offenses spoils the party?
Let's break it down in our Rangers vs. White Sox preview and prediction.
Texas Rangers
Texas is starting to find it at the plate, entering Tuesday on a three-game winning streak which has seen it score a total of 20 runs. Corey Seager is now hitting .408 in the month of June with five homers, and Josh Jung and Adolis Garcia are getting hot in a hurry.
When you put it all together, this lineup ranks eighth in wRC+ over the last two weeks with a high 10.5% walk rate and low 21.2% strikeout rate. The Rangers are hitting .282 on balls in play with a .197 Isolated Power, illustrating how this team has found a way to dominate the three true outcomes lately.
Unfortunately for this offense, the pitching staff has really let them down. The Rangers have the 14th-best bullpen ERA over the last two weeks and their starters rank 18th in that category. That is partially due to Eovaldi's slight downturn over the last couple of starts, but with a weak Chicago offense awaiting him here those numbers might turn around.
Eovaldi has allowed seven earned in his last two starts, taking him across 13 1/3 innings against the Rays and Angels. He's still managed to strike out 15 during that time, though five walks and three homers have led to his demise. The good news here is that those aren't persistent issues; Eovaldi's 5.3% walk rate puts him in the top 11% of all pitchers and his barrel rate remains a low 6.5%.
Chicago White Sox
The Sox have now dropped seven of nine as they continue to seek answers at the plate. Chicago ranks 25th in wRC+ over the last two weeks thanks in large part to a 26.6% strikeout rate and extremely low 5.9% walk rate. The White Sox lead the way in swinging strike rate over the last 14 days at 14.8% and have swung at 51.7% of the pitches they've seen, which is the second-highest mark.
Speaking of swinging strikes, let's talk about Cease here for a second. A season after finishing second in Cy Young Award voting, the right-hander has taken a massive step backwards with a 4.35 xERA and high 10.7% walk rate. His 26.2% strikeout rate is also four points lower than what he posted last year, though that number is trending upwards with 23 punchouts in 16 2/3 innings this month.
Cease continues to struggle with walks, issuing eight free passes over that span, but he has remained pretty steady in the contact department thanks to a 40.7% ground ball rate. He's still pitched to a 47.2% hard-hit rate, however, so strikeouts are going to be the name of the game for the 27-year-old.
Rangers vs. White Sox Betting Pick
You couldn't ask for a better get-right spot if you're Eovaldi. The White Sox are swinging at just about everything right now, which should help alleviate the concerns the Rangers starter has in the walk department and help him show off his strikeout prowess.
On the other side of this one, I'm encouraged on Cease's behalf that he owns a 3.71 ERA at home versus a 5.05 ERA on the road, hitters actually own a better OPS+ against him when he pitches in Chicago. That's because his walk issues have been glaring in these starts, and against a Rangers team which has done little aside from walk and homer in the last two weeks I'm scared for the right-hander.
That leads me to the Rangers moneyline here, which I'd play to -145.
Pick: Rangers Moneyline (-145 or Better) |
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