The Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians will square off in a battle between two seriously struggling AL Central teams tonight. But although the on-field product may not be great, getting some action on it is a great way to spice things up. Let’s dive into the betting odds for Monday evening’s White-Sox-Guardians action to make our MLB predictions and identify the best bet — we’re trusting Cleveland to score an important win at home.
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Best White Sox-Guardians Bet & Prediction
Chicago White Sox-Cleveland Guardians Odds
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
Chicago White Sox: +105 | Cleveland Guardians: -125
Over 9: -105 | Under 9: -115
These teams lack direction. Today’s starting pitching is a perfect example of that. The Chicago White Sox are yet to even announce a starter with their usual option, RHP Mike Clevinger, on the shelf. The White Sox have started only five guys all season, so it’s unclear who they will tap for starting duties. The Guardians will trot out 25-year-old RHP Hunter Gaddis, a second-year pitcher with 10 career starts this year and a 10.00 ERA. He owns a 6.86 ERA through five appearances and 19.2 innings pitched this season.
Despite Gaddis’ terrible numbers, the Guardians should have an edge on the mound. Gaddis owns an xERA of just 3.12, which points to significant positive regression in his future. And while there is no sense in speculating who the White Sox will start, it’ll more than likely be a right-handed pitcher — righties dominate both their rotation and their bullpen. Although Cleveland’s offense has struggled all season, their OPS of .646 against righties is marginally better than what they’ve shown against lefties. In contrast, the White Sox own a far better OPS against lefties (.742) than against righties (.685).
Like Gaddis, Cleveland’s offense should benefit from some positive regression soon. The Guardians rank 30th in weighted on-base average, or wOBA, at .283. However, they rank 25th in expected weighted on-base average, or xwOBA, at .308. They actually slot in ahead of the 26th-ranked White Sox (.307) in the latter metric. Although the offense hasn’t been there for Cleveland so far this season, the numbers suggest it should show up soon.
Let’s trust the Guardians to get the job done against a disorganized White Sox team. Cleveland’s batting splits against right-handed pitchers and underperformance relative to expectations make them a solid buy-low team until their numbers balance out. With the White Sox having yet to name a starter, some books are holding markets until an announcement. But DraftKings Sportsbook isn’t, and we can head there to back the Guardians to win outright at odds of -125 (55.6%).
Best White Sox-Guardians MLB Bet: Guardians ML -125 at DraftKings
