White Sox vs. Blue Jays Odds
| White Sox Odds | +105 |
| Blue Jays Odds | -125 |
| Over/Under | 8.5 (-110/-110) |
| Time | 7:07 p.m. ET |
| TV | MLB.TV |
| Odds via BetMGM. Get up-to-the-minute MLB odds here. | |
The Toronto Blue Jays host the short-handed Chicago White Sox on Wednesday, looking for their seventh consecutive victory in the second game of the series.
The Blue Jays’ bats have finally come to life of late, but they’ll draw a tough matchup, as Chicago sends Michael Kopech to the mound for the start.
Hyun-Jin Ryu has also offered a resurgence for Toronto, posting strong results in four outings since returning from injury and a trip to the minors.
So, can Michael Kopech lead the White Sox to a crucial victory? Let’s take a look at this meeting and see where we can find betting value.
Chicago White Sox
Chicago took a step in the right direction altogether in May, as the club posted a 15-11 record and has treaded water effectively until its lineup is fully healthy.
Obviously, the loss of Tim Anderson is massive, but that loss looks a little more livable if we are going to see Danny Mendick post the kind of results we have seen so far in the first two contests of Anderson's absence. Mendick has gone 4 for 8 with four RBIs and has surprisingly excellent results over a tiny sample of 34 plate appearances this season.
The White Sox have been significantly more productive versus left-handed pitching this season, and have batted to a 120 wRC+ with a .331 wOBA through 330 at bats this season.
A reasonably productive day could go a long way for the White Sox, with Kopech on the mound pitching with some additional rest.
Kopech has pitched to a spectacular era of 1.29 through 42 innings, and enters after a solid outing in New York where he didn’t allow an earned run over seven innings, yielding just one hit and fanning six batters.
His xERA of 2.70 suggests regression is coming, but the 26-year-old has some electric stuff and seems to be putting it all together. Adjustments between his slider and curveball seem to be paying dividends as well, and are working well to back up what is one of the best fastballs in the league.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays have actually hit to a negative pitch value versus the fastball this season, which could be a bad note entering this matchup with Kopech, who has allowed anemically low averages against his fastball this season.
Toronto's approach at the plate has clearly improved over the last dozen games, but this projects to be somewhat of a boom-or-bust matchup. However, as with most of the Blue Jays’ metrics, that number could likely rise to an extent moving forward, especially if some of the bigger names in this lineup can begin to really click into gear.
Ryu posted an ERA of 7.43 over his final 46 innings in 2021, and began this season in treacherous form, managing an ERA of 13.50 before being placed on the Injured List.
Ryu has managed an ERA of just 1.69 since returning to the rotation, and has seemingly dialled in the command to help manage more reasonable results. He was obviously never going to be manage such dreadful results over a large sample, but I still believe he's not likely to manage an uptick from his xERA of 4.97 over a large sample size.
Ryu's stuff hasn't been markedly different by any means over this segment of improved results, and he has still allowed 16 hits throughout 15.2 innings since the return. And I believe he will remain pitching to way too much hard contact and having a hard time managing outs moving forward.
Ryu has averaged just 89.9 MPH on his fastball since the start of last season, and working around that at the big league level continues to be a challenge for the 35-year-old pitcher.
White Sox-Blue Jays Pick
Kopech should keep the Blue Jays red-hot lineup under wraps to start this game, and even considering Ryu's surprising recent resurgence, I feel the White Sox are holding a clear pitching edge.
Chicago's makeshift lineup gave Kevin Gausman a lot of issues Tuesday, and I certainly feel there's still enough talent left for the White Sox manage some runs off Ryu, especially considering it's significantly better splits versus lefties.
Backing the White Sox to win the first five innings at an underdog price holds strong value in this spot at +110, and I’d play it down to +100 odds.
Pick: Chicago — First 5 Innings (+110)
