Chicago White Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays: Odds, Prediction
After a 3-3 road trip to Houston and New York, the Blue Jays kick off a six-game homestand Monday night against the Chicago White Sox, with Toronto -170 on the MLB odds.
Betting Analysis
Toronto makes its lone visit to the White Sox from July 4-6 this season. Last year, the Jays won the series 4-2, including 3-0 as the home side. Teoscar Hernandez hit .417 with two homers and eight RBIs and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. .400 for the Jays, but both are elsewhere now. Alejandro Kirk was at .364 with four homers. Matt Chapman was just 6-for-22 with eight strikeouts.
Andrew Vaughn torched Blue Jays pitching with a .500 average and two homers in 2022, while Luis Robert hit .400 with a homer and nine RBIs, and former AL MVP Jose Abreu .348 with a homer. He left in free agency this winter for Houston. The Sox also remain without All-Star shortstop and leadoff hitter Tim Anderson due to injury. He was limited to two games in the 2022 season series also because of injury. Chicago has a first-year manager in Pedro Grifol, the former bench coach of the Royals.
The total has gone over in seven straight meetings.
Chicago White Sox
Chicago enters on a four-game skid and was swept at MLB-best Tampa Bay over the weekend. The Sox haven’t had All-Star closer Liam Hendriks yet this year but great news last Thursday when he posted to social media that he is cancer free after completing chemotherapy treatments for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The 34-year-old thus could be back relatively soon, although there’s no official timetable and the team elected not to move him to the 60-day injured list last month.
Former starter Reynaldo Lopez has mostly handled save situations so far with mixed results. It’s veteran Lance Lynn (0-2, 7.59 ERA) on the mound Monday. It hasn’t been pretty so far as teams are batting .319 against Lynn. In two road starts, his ERA is a respectable 3.86. Lynn is 2-3 with a 4.33 ERA in 52 career innings against Toronto, and 0-2 with a 2.12 ERA in three starts (17 innings) at Rogers Centre. Matt Chapman is 2-for-17 career off Lynn with two hits solo homers. George Springer is 7-for-24 off him with a double, triple and 10 Ks. The White Sox are 2-5 in their past seven series openers.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Jays went 3-3 on their six-game road trip, taking two of three at Yankee Stadium thanks to a 5-1 win Sunday. Kevin Gausman went seven strong to give the bullpen a bit of a break. Whit Merrifield had a knock Sunday to extend his hitting streak to eight games. He has reached base safely in all 16 of his games played.
Chris Bassitt (2-2, 5.40 ERA) is on the mound Monday. The right-hander was destroyed in his team debut in St. Louis but has followed with three straight quality starts. Bassitt hasn’t faced the White Sox, with whom he debuted in the majors back in 2014. In five career starts against the Pale Hose, he has a 4.01 ERA in 24.2 innings. Eloy Jimenez is 3-for-5 off him. Toronto is 4-2 at Rogers Centre this year, winning two of three against both Detroit and Tampa Bay.
CHW
TOR