Toronto Blue Jays vs. Chicago White Sox: Odds, Prediction
It’s the Memorial Day holiday in the United States on Monday, and that’s why the Toronto Blue Jays are playing a matinee at the Chicago White Sox. The Jays are heavy favourites on the MLB odds behind Chris Bassitt.
Betting Analysis
Probably the four biggest days in an MLB regular season are Opening Day, Memorial Day, July 4 and the final day of the season. The old adage is that you can finally determine what teams are in a given season by the Memorial Day holiday, which is Monday in the USA – and why there are many matinees around the league. If you are a bad team by this holiday, you are very likely going to be so the rest of the way. Ditto a good team. It’s also the time of the season where trade talks will start to pick up.
This three-game set will conclude the season series between the Blue Jays and rebuilding White Sox. They played three at Rogers Centre to start last week and Toronto outscored Chicago 18-5 in its two wins but was blanked 5-0 in the middle game.
Bo Bichette had a great series, going 6-for-11 with three triples, a homer, four RBIs and two runs scored. Danny Jansen was 3-for-8 with a homer and five RBIs. Nicky Lopez hit well for Chicago at 6-for-12, while Paul DeJong was 4-for-10 with a homer and three RBIs.
Toronto swept a three-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field in 2023.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Jays enter on a three-game skid after losing a wild 14-11 matchup in Detroit on Sunday. Some teams will go years not losing a game they scored double-digit runs in. Closer Jordan Romano allowed a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. He also pitched Saturday so is likely not available here. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stayed hot with four hits, his fifth multi-hit game over his last 10.
It’s righty Chris Bassitt on the hill Monday. Bassitt (4-6, 4.39 ERA) blanked the White Sox on five hits over a season-high seven innings in a win at Rogers Centre last Wednesday. He is 4-2 with a 3.27 ERA in eight career starts vs. Chicago. Nicky Lopez is 3-for-7 off him with a homer.
Chicago White Sox
Chicago was swept a four-game set by Baltimore over the weekend and has dropped five straight and nine of 10. The Sox have now been swept eight times already in 2024 and have been held to two or fewer runs 27 times and collected four hits or fewer 14 times, the most in the majors. Not something you want to lead in. Arguably the team’s two best hitters, Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez, are on the injured list. Robert is getting close to a return, but Jimenez is out about a month. It’s just a really, really bad offensive team.
And maybe one of the worst starting pitchers in the majors, Nick Nastrini (0-3, 11.91 ERA), is on the mound Monday. He was opposite Bassitt last Wednesday in Toronto and pummelled for nine runs and seven hits over 3.1 innings in a loss. Bo Bichette is 2-for-3 off him with a homer and three RBIs.
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