The Padres continue the homestand as the White Sox come to town! It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a White Sox-Padres prediction and pick.
The White Sox are officially out of the running for the postseason. After coming into the year with huge expectations, the Sox are on track to finish either 2nd or 3rd in the division. The AL Central proved to be one of the more weaker divisions in baseball this season. Chicago is (77-79) and may not even finish above .500 for the year.
The magic number for the Padres is three. With six games remaining, the Padres need three wins to clinch a spot in the playoffs. At (86-70), SD will finish 2nd in the NL West Division and is on pace to finish 2nd in the NL Wild Card as well. The Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers are just a few games behind as one of those three teams will be missing out on the postseason.
Here are the White Sox-Padres MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: White Sox-Padres Odds
Chicago White Sox: +1.5 (-111)
San Diego Padres: -1.5 (-108)
Over: 7.5 (-114)
Under: 7.5 (-106)
Why The White Sox Could Cover The Spread
Starting for the White Sox in Game 1 is right-hander Davis Martin. The 25-year-old only has 56 innings under his belt for his career so the rookie doesn't have much experience. He will have a tough test tonight as he faces a hungry team fighting to claim a spot in the playoffs. In 12 appearances and seven starts for Martin this season, he is (2-5) with a 3.86 ERA with 39 strikeouts on the year. His last two starts came against the Detroit Tigers where he finished with a combined 12 innings allowing 1o hits and four runs. The Tigers are far from the Padres, but those quality starts proved that he is capable of getting the job done. They don't need Martin to go out there and dominate, they just need to him keep the Padres from taking a commanding lead.
Superstar shortstop Tim Anderson has been shut down for the season. Future star Luis Robert has also been shut down for the season so you could say the two top hitters in this lineup are not available. Yoan Moncada is also dealing with an injury and is currently day-to-day. That really just leaves Jose Abreu and Eloy Jimenez as the two sluggers in the lineup. Elvis Andrus hasn't played well since coming to Chicago but they are getting solid production from Andrew Vaughn. Vaughn is batting .276 on the year with 17 homers and 75 RBIs. The Sox need Vaughn, Abreu, and Jimenez to lead the past a tough opposing starter tonight.
Why The Padres Could Cover The Spread
Toeing the slab for San Diego tonight is ace Yu Darvish. What else needs to be said about this guy? Darvish has been everything and more that the Padres could hope for since arriving from the Cubs before the 2021 season. The 36-year-old is (16-7) on the year with a 3.05 ERA in 188.2 innings. His ERA is good for 19th in baseball and his 0.93 WHIP is 4th. Darvish is just nine K's away from 200 on the season. The best stat for Darvish this year is that he has pitched a quality start every outing since June 13. That is basically the entire season. If he goes out there and pitches another 6+ innings, then the Friars will be able to cover this spread.
The offense is starting to come alive but their last series against the Los Angeles Dodgers was not the best test. The Padres were able to score 25 runs in the 3-game series in Denver. However, scored only six in the series against LA. LA has some of the best pitching in the game and has dominated every single team in the league this year. It's no shock it happened to the Padres this week.
With that said, Manny Machado and Juan Soto are two names to keep an eye on for tonight. Facing a young and inexperienced starter for the Sox means that those two sluggers will attack him early.
Final White Sox-Padres Prediction & Pick
There shouldn't be much to overthink here. The Padres are fighting to make the playoffs and the Sox are banged up and falling apart. With Darvish on the bump, take the Friars to cover this spread at home.
Final White Sox-Padres Prediction & Pick: San Diego Padres -1.5 (-108)
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