Tigers vs. White Sox Odds
| Tigers Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 +118 | 8.5 -122o / -100u | -134 |
| White Sox Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -141 | 8.5 -122o / -100u | +114 |
Tigers vs White Sox odds for Saturday have the White Sox installed as -140 favorites on the moneyline with the game total over/under set at 8.5 runs.
The Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox treated us to a pitchers' duel on Opening Day as left-handers Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet flummoxed hitters, combining to allow just one run over combined innings. The final result? A 1-0 Tigers victory.
Can we expect more of the same in the second game of this three-game series when Kenta Maeda faces Michael Soroka on Saturday at Guaranteed Rate Field?
Find out in my preview of this AL Central clash below, which includes my Tigers vs White Sox pick.
Detroit Tigers
While the Tigers don’t have a player of Luis Robert Jr.'s caliber, some of their younger players still have potential.
Former No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson tallied two of the Tigers' six hits on Opening Day. Last season, the big righty popped 31 homers and finally showed his potential after the All-Star break.
Arguably the biggest problem for the Tigers is Javier Baez not living up to his contract — the former Cub posted a 88 wRC+ and 61 wRC+ in his first two seasons with Detroit. Baez hit the ball hard a few times in the season opener, so perhaps he’ll turn a corner this year. I wouldn’t count on it though.
Moreover, Detroit will lean on a pair of smooth-swinging lefties — Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene — against Soroka. Carpenter is strictly a platoon bat with an .841 OPS against righties compared to .651 against southpaws. With such strong splits, Carpenter likely gets yanked for Andy Ibanez if a lefty reliever enters the game.
The Tigers wanted to bring in experienced pitching over the offseason to eat innings and potentially move for younger pieces at the Trade Deadline. Maeda was a perfect addition with his ability generate swings and misses and generally stabilize the rotation.
The 35-year-old signed a 2-year, $24 million contract after punching out 117 batters in 104 2/3 innings with the Twins. In addition to a decent low-90s fastball, Maeda features a devastating splitter to put hitters away late in counts. He posted well above average percentiles in K%, Whiff % and BB%.
When Maeda departs the game, the Tigers will turn to a bullpen that has pretty strong back-end arms in Alex Lange and Jason Foley.
Chicago White Sox
The White Sox offense looks like a total disaster once you get past Luis Robert Jr., who posted a stellar 128 wRC+ with 38 bombs last season. He’s turned into the guy the White Sox dreamed and hoped for when they signed him as a 16-year-old.
Former disappointing prospects headline the remainder of the White Sox lineup. Prospect ranking boards in the mid 2010s had names like Yoan Moncada, Andrew Benintendi, Andrew Vaughn and Eloy Jimenez sitting near the top for years.
Each player performed below league average in the box last year, posting an OPS below .750. The other four starters — Kevin Pillar, Nicky Lopez, Martin Maldonado and Paul DeJong — somehow posted worse numbers — each with an OPS below .650. From a pure production standpoint, Chicago probably has the worst starting lineup in MLB.
It's been a tough few years for Michael Soroka, who was once a top prospect and an All-Star in 2019. Injuries caused Soroka to miss most of the past three seasons and the Braves decided to move on from the injury-prone righty in the offseason.
Soroka, however, showed signs of life in Spring Training. He posted a 1.38 ERA and racked up 17 strikeouts over 13 innings. We’ll see if Soroka's dominant spring carries over into the regular season.
In addition to the unknowns from Soroka, the White Sox bullpen might feature even more. The presumptive closer is former starter Michael Kopech, but he pitched in a losing effort on Thursday. Perhaps Pedro Grifol wanted Kopech to get some work in, but the White Sox could opt for others option depending on matchups, like lefty Tim Hill and righty-hangers Jordan Leasure and Dominic Leone.
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Tigers vs. White Sox
Betting Pick & Prediction
The best bet in this AL Central clash is the White Sox in the first five innings.
It’s hard to trust an oft-injured pitcher like Soroka, but Maeda pitched poorly last season and backed it up with a 5.30 ERA in Spring Training. I could see the White Sox scoring an early run and holding the Tigers offense down until a late bullpen implosion.
