Giants vs. White Sox Odds
| Giants Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline | Total | Run Line |
+116 | 8 -105 / -114 | +1.5 -194 |
| White Sox Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Moneyline | Total | Run Line |
| -136 | 8 -105 / -114 | -1.5 +157 |
After splitting the first two in Chicago, the Giants and White Sox will battle for the series victory in Thursday's rubber game. It promises a lot with two accomplished pitchers on the hill, but will Alex Wood and Lance Lynn follow through on that promise?
Let's get into the best way to bet Giants vs. White Sox.
San Francisco Giants
I'm not really sure why the Alex Wood train has cooled so considerably. Sure, the 32-year-old is coming off a tough 2022 campaign which saw him compile a poor 5.10 ERA, but there are plenty of reasons to keep the faith.
For starters, the left-hander pitches for an organization renowned for its ability to fix the mistakes of its hurlers and transform cast-offs into borderline elite arms. Then, let's consider the fact that Wood isn't too far removed from perhaps the second-best season of his career in 2021, which saw him post a 3.83 ERA in 138 2/3 innings.
While his 2022 didn't look like a great follow-up, the lefty did have a 4.00 xERA and his underlying numbers more or less stayed the same. He struck out hitters at a slightly slower pace, though his 23.6% K-rate still beat his career average of 22.4%, and the league average of 22.1%. He also walked fewer hitters and posted a .248 expected batting average.
Now, Wood is certainly not the man who received Cy Young votes in 2017, but he's still a very reliable mid-tier arm with the ability to shut down some talented offenses.
Now that we've gotten past my Wood love-fest, let's note that the Giants offense has been all over the place in the early going. Aside from beating up on Michael Kopech a couple of days ago and the inexperienced Clarke Schmidt over the weekend, it's been pretty bad. This team has struck out in 31.6% of its plate appearances, ranking second-to-last in MLB. Homers and walks have been the only thing keeping this team afloat.
Chicago White Sox
Lance Lynn's season-opening start against the Astros could have gone better. After a solid performance at the World Baseball Classic, the grizzled veteran turned around and walked four and allowed two runs on three hits with six strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. The Astros are a disciplined and very dangerous offense, but you'd expect better from Lynn.
The 36-year-old was a big-time candidate for positive regression entering the year after a 3.62 xERA last season promised a return to his 2021 form. However, the Lynn truthers suffered a tough blow last week. The good news is the season is not a week long, and most other teams Lynn faces will be worse than the Astros. The other good news is Lynn still punched out six hitters.
As for this offense, it's kind of confusing. Chicago is 11th in wRC+ through the first week of play, but is without Eloy Jimenez yet again and has essentially had two great days at the plate, similar to the Giants. The White Sox are walking at the third-lowest rate in baseball and rank second-to-last in contact rate, ahead of only San Francisco. The White Sox aren't striking out at an alarming rate, but they're not exactly putting amazing swings on the ball.
Giants vs. White Sox Betting Pick
I'm pretty sour on both of these offenses at the moment, if you couldn't tell, and I really like both these starting pitchers. Ordinarily I think we'd see the books hang a total of 7.5 on this game, but there's some market skepticism surrounding Wood.
I don't necessarily disagree with the number, but I'm willing to put my chips down on Wood taking care of business. He was splendid this spring with a 3.60 ERA in four starts and his 2022 peripherals left us with plenty of reasons to believe in a 2023 resurgence.
On top of that, the White Sox are down arguably their biggest right-handed power bat and they're not exactly tearing it up at the plate. Both starters should shove against lineups trying to find their footing.
Pick: Under 8 |
What is QuickSlip?
QuickSlip is an Action Network feature that allows users to automatically pre-load their bet slip at FanDuel Sportsbook.
