This is the opener of a four-game series in Chicago between the White Sox and visiting Cleveland Guardians.
Logan Allen is scheduled to pitch for Cleveland while Jonathan Cannon should get the nod for Chicago.
Guardians at White Sox prediction, preview
Logan Allen is the epitome of a soft-tossing lefty. The fastball averages 91 mph, the swinging strike rate is 7.3% and the chase rate is 22.7%. So it’s not shocking to know that the strikeout rate is 17.9%. The walk rate is 9.9% because he has to nibble like a mouse with cheese. That said, Allen does know how to pitch. The average exit velocity is 87.7 mph while the hard hit rate is 34.1%. The ERA is 4.07 while the FIP is 4.44. Allen won’t be blowing the top off anything. Instead, he’ll eat innings without causing too much damage.
Allen has been slightly worse at home while lefties have hit four of the 10 home runs allowed.
Allen has allowed more than three earned runs four times. In his five most recent starts, he’s allowed three or fewer earned runs in all. Allen began the season finding it difficult to go five innings. He’s pitched at least six innings in four of the last six starts, with all of them over five innings. Allen faced the White Sox way back in his second start of the season. He went 4.2 innings, striking out four, walking two and not allowing an earned run on four hits.
Against left-handed pitching, the White Sox have struck out at the third-highest rate while having the 11th-best ISO. The wOBA is 19th-best in MLB.
Jonathan Cannon is pretty much average across the board. He averages 93.8 mph on the fastball and is posting a 4.5 ERA, which is supported by the 4.76 FIP. The strikeout rate is 17.5% while the walk rate is 8.1%.
Cannon has been able to strike out more lefties, but he’s also allowed more home runs to them. Cannon has been better at home.
Cannon has allowed more than three earned runs four times. In two of the last four starts, he allowed five earned runs in each and he failed to go over three innings in two of those contests. In his most recent start…in Colorado…Cannon went 5.1 innings and only allowed two earned runs. Shrug.
The Guardians have struck out at the 15th-highest rate against right-handed pitching while being 15th in ISO. The wOBA is 26th-best.
As for bullpens, Cleveland has the 24th-lowest FIP while Chicago has the 28th-lowest.
Guardians at White Sox, Best Bet
It’s a case of the moveable object vs the stoppable force. I’m not enamored with either starting pitcher. Both bullpens are susceptible for sure, but both offenses are near the bottom for runs scored on the season.
