After stringing together a couple of wins, the Texas Rangers find themselves on top of the AL West once again for the first time in a few weeks. Tonight, they’re taking on the Chicago White Sox, who are also atop the AL Central but dropped the opening game of this series 11-2 last night. First pitch for game two is at 7:40 p.m. ET at Rate Field.
Let’s dive in with a preview, prediction and pick for tonight’s Rangers vs. White Sox game courtesy of odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Rangers vs. White Sox prediction, preview
It’s quite likely that none of the teams in the AL West are actually good this year, but the Rangers are one of the better ones. They’re only 17-19 since the All-Star break but have gotten back to .500 at 66-66 on the campaign, sitting atop the division. Just don’t look at the -37 run differential. The White Sox are at the head of the AL Central with a 68-63 record and a +34 differential, but they’ve also gone just 18-18 since the break and are far from their early season form as well.
Texas sends out ace RHP Jacob deGrom (9-8) tonight. He’s having the worst season of his career in terms of ERA at 3.77, but a 1.13 WHIP is still quite good and his 157 strikeouts over 126.2 IP rank ninth in the AL. His K% remains elite at 30.3% with excellent chase and whiff rates, bringing a 6.2% BB% as well.
Chicago starts LHP Anthony Kay (9-6), who holds a 3.96 ERA with a 1.33 WHIP. He’s struck out 104 batters over 127.1 IP, a K% of just 18.4%, though an 8.0% BB% is a bit better. He does have an above-average chase rate and ground-ball rate, though.
The Rangers’ offense has been far from impressive this year, and that goes for the production since the break as well. They have an OPS of just .686 with a .235/.304/.382 slash line, amassing a .146 ISO as well with the sixth-fewest runs scored. A 24.1% K% is on the high side, and in terms of overall wRC+, the club falls 20th over this sample. However, the good news is that they’re far better against southpaws over the full-season sample, slashing .253/.327/.418 for a .744 OPS in the split.
The White Sox have one of the MLB’s better units at the plate, but they haven’t been quite as consistent lately. They’ve scored the eighth-most runs since the break but the OPS is just .707 with a .226/.312/.395 slash line. Like Texas, a 24.7% K% is on the higher end as well, but they’re driving the ball better with a .169 ISO – in line with their season-long power production. The Sox are also 12th in wRC+ since the All-Star layoff. On the year, they have a .237/.317/.406 slash line and a .723 OPS against right-handers.
Rangers vs. White Sox pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Rangers as a -106 Moneyline favorite on the road tonight, while the hite Sox enter as -101 underdogs at their own ballpark. The total is set at 7.5 combined runs.
deGrom remains a standout arm, but there’s no denying that he’s struggled in atypical fashion this season. At 38 years old, inconsistency has become something of a theme from start to start. There’s one commonality to target in this outing tonight, though – he’s failed to go more than 5.0 innings in all but one of his last seven starts since the beginning of July. deGrom has largely capped out at an even five frames, with the lone exception his most recent outing of 6.0 innings against the Washington Nationals. With his workload perhaps managed to an extent and his own form shakier than usual, I like the White Sox and their productive bats to keep him under 16.5 outs recorded this evening.
