It wasn’t the most conventional path to a 10-game winning streak, but with a rain-shortened 6-1 victory over the White Sox last night, the Blue Jays are now one win away from matching a franchise record. To accomplish that feat, and continue building its lead in the AL East, Toronto will have to take down one of the hottest pitchers in baseball this afternoon: Adrian Houser. …That still feels weird to type out.
Let’s preview this matinee American League matchup with the help of some odds and lines on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Blue Jays vs. White Sox prediction, preview
Following a horrific 2024 campaign with the Mets, the aforementioned Houser couldn’t even get a guaranteed MLB contract this offseason, so eventually, he had to settle for a deal with the White Sox in late May. I haven’t been able to say this all that much the past few years, but it turns out that that was a great move by Chicago’s braintrust. Houser has made eight starts with the White Sox spanning 50.2 innings and, in total, he’s allowed only nine earned runs in that span. That’s right. Nine. That translates out to a sterling 1.60 ERA. Now, the right-hander’s 84.6% strand rate is a little high — especially for a pitcher with just an 18.5% strikeout rate — but there are a lot of reasons to believe the 32-year-old has turned a corner. First and foremost, Houser’s 95.1 mph average fastball velocity is higher than it has been in basically a decade. He’s also generally keeping the ball on the ground and suppressing opponent barrel rate (5.4%).
We’re only three-ish weeks away from the MLB Trade Deadline and, at some point, another team is going to trade for Houser. I mean, he’s thrown 15 straight scoreless innings coming into Wednesday’s action and seven of his eight outings have qualified as quality starts. The man is rolling. Heck, one of the clubs that could be interested might be the Blue Jays. Toronto’s bats are red-hot at the moment, as the team has scored more runs than any other AL organization dating all the way back to the beginning of May (322). However, Houser faced this same Jays lineup back on June 22 and surrendered only two runs across 6.1 innings of work. That’s actually the last time Houser has surrendered a run at all.
To be fair, Eric Lauer is another former Milwaukee starter that is surprisingly thriving in a new spot. In 51.0 innings with Toronto in 2025, the left-hander sports a 2.65 ERA and a 3.21 xERA with a career-high 25.1% strikeout rate. Still, Lauer’s .240 opponent BABIP is probably unsustainable, as is his 85.5% strand rate. The 30-year-old has been a godsend for a Jays team that needed a fifth starter to step-up, yet I think it’s safe to wonder how much longer Lauer will be able to keep this going. Edgar Quero (175), Luis Robert Jr. (143) and Austin Slater (131) have all been quite good against southpaws this season by wRC+, so it’s not like this White Sox roster lacks any dangerous bats.
Blue Jays vs. White Sox pick, best bet
Best Bet: Under 8.5 (-115)
Houser hasn’t allowed an earned run in 15 innings and the White Sox rank dead-last in runs for the season (316).
Strong Lean: White Sox ML (+125)
I know. But all good things have to come to an end at some point. Houser’s legit and Chicago is somehow 19-26 at home so far in 2025. They’re a live dog today.
