Tigers vs. White Sox Odds
| Tigers Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 -104 | 7.5 -122o / -100u | -172 |
| White Sox Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -115 | 7.5 -122o / -100u | +144 |
Opening Day has finally arrived, and we have a treat on the south side of Chicago. Two of the game's most promising young arms will square off as Tarik Skubal takes the ball for the Detroit Tigers, and Garrett Crochet will oppose him for the Chicago White Sox.
Tigers fans have to come into this season with some optimism. Skubal heading the rotation is a big reason, but their lineup impressed last season and is full of young talent on an upward trajectory.
For the White Sox faithful, any season in which a team loses over 100 games is tough to withstand. However, there's been some significant overhaul, while a few of their big bats, Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez, remain.
Here's my Tigers vs White Sox pick and prediction.
Detroit Tigers
This lineup is very underrated. Detroit is going to have six bats in its lineup that had an above-average hard-hit rate last season, and that does not include Javy Baez, who's always one swing away from making an impact.
You have to be confident in this lineup going up against Crochet. Yes, Crochet's arm is electric, and he does have swing-and-miss stuff, but a solid spring training is not enough to fix his regular season track record.
Last season, as a reliever, Crochet struggled with command. His issues created traffic on the basepaths from free passes and a lot of loud contact, as he had a 44.7 percent hard-hit rate.
While Crochet's spring was much better command-wise, his most recent outing, which was his longest, was where he got hit around for the first time. Crochet surrendered five hits and three runs while walking one and striking out just two.
So, despite now pounding the zone, Crochet is not missing as many bats, and his fastball-heavy approach will allow the Tigers to pick up on him quickly. As this is his first start of the season, and he only reached 32 pitches in spring, I doubt we will see Crochet make it twice through the order.
However, that should be more than enough time for Detroit to do damage.
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Chicago White Sox
The White Sox lineup includes many familiar faces from around the league. South Side faithful will still recognize Luis Robert, Andrew Vaughn, Eloy Jimenez, and Yoan Moncada.
However, they will be introduced to a flurry of new faces brought in. Dominic Fletcher, Martin Maldonado, Kevin Pillar and Paul DeJong will also be regulars in the order. While the additions are certainly welcome, the issue is that many of them may not make a significant impact at the plate.
Not one of their new additions had an average hard-hit rate, and they were all near the bottom of the league in xBA. With their big boppers not having much protection, the new-look White Sox will be easy pickings for Skubal.
Skubal missed half the season last year, but he came back and dominated, posting a 2.80 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP over 15 starts. He picked up right where he left off this spring, as his velocity was up, and he only had one sub-par outing against Pittsburgh.
Skubal is also a candidate to work deeper into this matchup, as he reached 86 pitches in his last outing.
Tigers vs. White Sox
Betting Pick & Prediction
With it being Opening Day, many starters are still stretching themselves out pitch count-wise, and this matchup is no different. However, Skubal being significantly more built up than Crochet gives the Tigers an edge here.
Not only will the Tigers have the better arm on the mound for longer, but their lineup is likely to give him early support as well. Take the Tigers to cover the spread in the first five.
