Who doesn’t love some early-season interleague play? The White Sox and Marlins have each wrangled a win in the first two games of this series. Which team will get on a plane Wednesday night with a series win in their back pocket?
First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. ET. The Marlins are -156 moneyline favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook. A Reds win is priced at +129. The game total is set at O/U 7.5 runs.
Let’s get into a pick and prediction for this White Sox-Marlins game.
White Sox vs. Marlins Preview
First things first, let’s get to know these starting pitchers.
Shane Smith takes the mound again for the White Sox. He’s looking for some redemption after struggling in his Opening Day start against Milwaukee. The Brew Crew tagged him for three hits, two walks, and three earned runs as he failed to get out of the second inning. Not the way you want your second MLB season to start.
Smith’s issues come from the imbalance in his arsenal. He threw his live fastball 45% of the time in 2025 and produced a 98th-percentile run value with it. But his breaking balls were an issue; his curveball and slider were consistently whacked around. In fact, Smith produced the lowest run value on breaking balls amongst all starters at -16. That has to change if he wants to find success this season.
It has been a bumpy road for Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara since winning the 2022 National League Cy Young award. His production fell sharply in 2023, then he missed the entire 2024 season after Tommy John surgery. The 2025 comeback was not inspiring; though he did make 31 starts, Alcantara’s 5.36 ERA didn’t spark much hope for getting back to his dominant self.
But the coaching staff trusted him enough to start him on Opening Day, and he sure did deliver. Alcantara scattered four hits, two walks, and an unearned run over seven innings against the Colorado Rockies, picking up a win in the process. His breaking balls looked great, an improvement over last season. Now the mindset has to be stacking good starts on top of good starts until, all of a sudden, you’re back on track.
Both lineups have had some boom days in the early part of the season. Miami finally got a crooked number on Tuesday, putting up nine runs on Sox starter Erick Fedde and company. It was a true team performance; every single Marlins batter either knocked in a run, scored a run, or both. Prior to that game, the Sox had scored a combined 16 runs in their previous two games, and will look to activate the bats once again.
For Chicago, the strength comes from the infield; Chase Meidroth, Munetaka Murakami, Miguel Vargas, and Colson Montgomery have been at the center of things. Miami’s strength has come from the outfield, as rookies Jakob Marsee and Owen Caissie have provided consistent offense. Will either lineup be able to string together enough hits to conquer these pitchers?
White Sox vs. Marlins Pick, Best Bet
It’s going to take a while for the books to come around to the fact that these two teams are not equal. The Marlins are poised to build on a surprisingly competent 2025 season and are a sneaky Wild Card contender. Heck, with the state of the NL East, they could make a run for the whole thing if this pitching staff stays healthy. The White Sox have a little more spice than they did last year, but this is not a good team. I expect Alcantara to mow them down on Wednesday, while Shane Smith and the Sox pen struggle to keep things under wraps.
