White Sox vs. Angels Odds
| White Sox Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline | Total | Run Line |
+144 | 8.5 +100 / -122 | +1.5 -137 |
| Angels Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline | Total | Run Line |
| -172 | 8.5 +100 / -122 | -1.5 +114 |
After a dramatic pitcher's duel on Monday night, the White Sox and Angels will do it again on Tuesday in Anaheim.
The potential for another low-scoring game is there with Michael Kopech and Shohei Ohtani toeing the slab, but is there more here than meets the eye?
Let's go through this one in our White Sox vs. Angels preview and prediction.
Chicago White Sox
The White Sox have had a rough go of it lately. Their staff ERA in the last two weeks sits at 4.46 with a poor 4.35 xFIP, and it seems an equal amount of blame should be assigned to the rotation and the bullpen.
One man who's seemed to absolve himself of blame is Kopech, who's pitched to a 2.66 ERA in the month of June.
The righty is still having a world of trouble when it comes to walking batters — issuing nine free passes in his last two games — but his xBA remains a solid .228, which is almost 20 points lower than the league average.
He's been torched by extra base hits — with a very poor 14.4% barrel rate and a .442 xSLG — but on the whole, the contact he's allowed has routinely been relatively unthreatening.
His expected batting average has continued to drop as the season has gone on, too — checking in at .186 in May and .207 in June — and his barrel rate has fallen under 10% in the last two months after starting off the season at 23.3% in April.
So, Kopech seems to be figuring some things out despite the fact that he's still having issues with walks.
As for this White Sox offense, they're figuring out very little. Chicago owns just an 84 wRC+ in the last two weeks and continues to sport very poor numbers in the strikeout and walk departments.
Los Angeles Angels
As far as the Angels' starter on Tuesday, it's simply been more of the same.
Ohtani has begun his season with a spectacular 32.6% strikeout rate and .195 xBA after posting a 33.2% strikeout rate and .204 xBA in 2022. His walks have shot up to 10.3% and his barrel rate is slightly worse, so his expected ERA has risen from 2.68 a season ago to 3.33.
Aside from those very minor issues, this is arguably the best version of Ohtani we've ever seen on the hill.
Ohtani's fastball velocity has come down a hair in June, but it continues to be an impossible pitch to hit, with a .195 xBA and .158 xSLG.
It's helped him continue to get outs on the ground — with a 45.6% ground ball rate to this point — and he'd be wise to keep leaning on it Tuesday, considering his increased use of the cutter has led to some slightly depressed expected stats in June.
The Angels' offense has been better over the last two weeks, with a 132 wRC+ to rank second in the league. While that might be slightly inflated due to L.A.'s 25-run outburst in Colorado, we can still take its amazing 9.7% walk rate and low 21.5% strikeout rate into consideration here.
White Sox vs. Angels Betting Pick
The White Sox are very swing-happy at the moment, and we saw firsthand on Monday against Reid Detmers just how helpful that can be for an opposing pitcher struggling with walks.
Ohtani has already looked nearly unhittable, but against a team that will strike out a bunch and won't walk, things should be pretty straightforward.
On the other side of this matchup, I'm very encouraged by Kopech's progress, but this couldn't be a tougher matchup for the righty. The Angels are walking a ton and hitting for power, and they really should have no issues scoring runs here.
I'll look to back Kopech going forward in better matchups, but I have to fade him here.
With both bullpens looking very unstable, I'll just stick with the first five innings.
Pick: Angels F5 -0.5 (-140) |
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