To kick off a three-game weekend set, the Chicago White Sox will entertain the surging Oakland Athletics at Guaranteed Rate Field. This will be the first of seven games these two clubs will play before the regular season comes to a close.
MLB Performance Recap
The Athletics (38-63) have the worst record in the American League, but at least they have a recent three-game sweep over division-leading Houston to boast about.
They currently trail the Astros by 27.5 games in the AL West, which would be the widest margin in MLB if not for Washington’s gap in the National League East.
Chicago (49-49) has won three of its last four in what wound up being series splits against Cleveland and at Colorado.
American League Matchup
In the AL Central, which is far from decided, they sit three games behind Minnesota and one back of the Guardians. Other than Oakland, they have the fewest home wins in the AL.
At the dish, the Southsiders are one of the most adept lineups in terms of hitting in the bigs. Their .257 collective batting average is the fourth-best in the major leagues.
Still, they’re a bit of a head-scratcher, as their home run and RBI totals don’t match that of a top-tier order.
White Sox Shortstop Trio
The trio of shortstop Tim Anderson, center fielder Luis Robert, and first baseman Jose Abreu has powered the effort.
Anderson paces the club by hitting .310, while Robert has a team-high dozen homers and 54 runs driven in. Abreu has a .383 on-base percentage.
White Sox vs. Athletics Odds
MLB odds favor the home team to come out on the right side of this one, killing Oakland’s momentum. Chicago is -1.5 on the run line at +106, while the Athletics are -128 to cover the spread.
On the moneyline, the White Sox are -190 and Oakland a +160 underdog. The total has been set at eight runs, with the over being -114 and the under -106 at the time of this writing.
Athletics Lineup
Oakland’s lineup has barely been worthy of calling itself a big-league group this season. The Athletics are hitting .214 as a team, which is the worst mark in MLB. Pittsburgh owns the next lowest average at .220.
As it pertains to long balls, Oakland is almost even with their hosts for this weekend. Three Oakland Athletics players — first baseman Seth Brown, backstop Sean Murphy, and right fielder Ramón Laureano — have collected double-digit dingers.
Batting Average
Murphy also possesses the squad’s best individual batting average (.244) and on-base percentage (.322), while Brown’s 41 runs driven in also lead the team.
Over the last week, second baseman Tony Kemp and right fielder Stephen Piscotty have also been key contributors. Both have batting averages over .368 in at least 16 plate appearances during that span.
White Sox vs. Athletics Betting Preview
Having had very limited success to this point in the campaign, right-hander James Kaprielian will make the start for the visiting side. In 15 starts, he has a 1-5 record to go along with a 4.74 ERA.
He might be coming off of his best performance yet, though. Against Texas Saturday, he turned in five innings of work, allowing only two hits in keeping the Rangers off the board.
Lance Lynn is slated to get the nod for the White Sox, with a 1-3 mark and a 6.43 ERA in eight starts in 2022. Evidently, he has a lot of work to do to improve his numbers, but he also blanked his last challenger.
Chicago White Sox vs. Oakland Athletics Picks and Predictions
We’ve taken a look at the Athletics vs. White Sox odds, so now let’s make some free MLB picks. Neither hurler has offered the best stuff this year — and if you believe in the saying that objects in motion stay in motion, it could be worth taking the Athletics to keep it going.
That’s the recommendation here. Oakland has been far from one of the best MLB teams, but they’re on a roll of late. Take them to win outright.
MLB Pick: Athletics (+170)
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