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The Oakland Athletics will continue their battle with the Chicago White Sox in the second of a three-game series Saturday evening in Chicago. With that said, it’s a good time to check out our MLB odds series, which includes our Athletics-White Sox prediction and pick we have laid out below.
Oakland is abysmal this season, a true baseball graveyard. Not to dance on the dead, but any above replacement-level player will possibly be playing for another team by Wednesday, At 39-63 (even with an 8-2 record in their last 10), Oakland's season was over long before it even started.
Chicago is not in much better shape, their 49-50 record is inexplicably only three games out of a playoff spot. This team has underperformed at every turn, although a lot of that blame can be placed on injuries more so than down years.
Here are the Athletics-White Sox MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Athletics-White Sox Odds
Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (-152)
Chicago White Sox: -1.5 (+126)
Over: 8 (-118)
Under: 8 (-104)
Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread
Oakland won the first installment of this one 7-3, beating up on a depleted Lance Lynn for five runs in 5.1 innings. Oakland mashed four home runs, including two from Seth Brown. On the season, Brown now has 14 home runs, although those come with a .230 batting average. As a team, Oakland ranks at or near the bottom of almost every offensive category, namely batting average and OPS. No qualified hitter has even reached a .250 batting average. Still, seven runs are nothing to sneeze at, so the long ball could propel Oakland to another win.
On the mound, Oakland will send their All-Star Paul Blackburn out for this one. Blackburn's 4.35 ERA is heavily inflated by his last start, in which he was torched for 10 runs in just 4.1 innings. The first two months were kind to Blackburn, as he ended May with a minuscule 2.15 ERA. Still, there is an easy path to Blackburn being good, and it has not been long since he has been better than most of the league. Oakland's bullpen has been average, with a 4.08 ERA ranking 19th in the league. AJ Puk (2.13 ERA) and Sam Moll (1.72 ERA) are the two bright spots in that bullpen.
Why The White Sox Could Cover The Spread
Chicago has been largely up and down this year, and have had to weather some injuries. Eloy Jimenez has managed just 25 games, missing about two and a half months with leg issues. Luis Robert has been out since the middle of the month with head and vision issues. Still, there are strong bats in this lineup, as Jose Abreu and Andrew Vaughn have picked up the slack. Abreu and Vaughn both have averages over .290 and double-digit home runs. Tim Anderson has an impressive .310 average in his 71 games played. This offense does have a ton of threats but needs all of them to be healthy at the same time to unleash that potential.
The pitching staff has endured struggles of their own, but tonight's starter Johnny Cueto is a bright spot. The veteran Cueto has a 2.89 ERA in 13 appearances (12 starts). As a team, Chicago's 4.04 ERA ranks 19th, far below the preseason expectations for this club. Outside of a few strong contributors, the bullpen has been slightly below-average, as a 4.09 ERA places them 20th in the league. Kendall Graveman, Reynaldo Lopez (who is now hurt), and Tanner Banks have all effectively gotten the ball to closer Liam Hendriks. Hendriks has been pretty solid, with a 3.48 ERA to go with his 19 saves.
Final Athletics-White Sox Prediction & Pick
Chicago should not have many issues in this one.
Final Athletics-White Sox Prediction & Pick: White Sox -1.5 (+126), over 8 (-118)
