Chicago White Sox (0-0) vs. Houston Astros (0-0)
March 30, 2023 7:08 pm EDT
The Line: Houston Astros -192 / Chicago White Sox +135; Over/Under: +7
(Get latest betting odds)
The Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros meet Thursday in MLB action at Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.
The Chicago White Sox have made the postseason in 2 of the last 3 years and are a contender in a competitive AL Central. The White Sox lost a lot of their free agents, but they made respectable splashes by adding outfielder Andrew Benintendi and pitcher Mike Clevinger. Adding Clevinger to a staff that already has Dylan Cease, Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito gives the White Sox one of the deeper starting rotations in baseball. The Guardians and Twins will be pushed by these White Sox. Dylan Cease gets the ball, and he was 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA and 227 strikeouts last season. Cease is 0-3 with a 6.30 ERA and 20 strikeouts in his career against the Astros.
The Houston Astros are coming off their second World Series title since 2017, and they’re the betting favorites to win it this year. The Astros lost a handful of free agents, including Justin Verlander, but the rest of the rotation is intact, and the offense got a boost with the addition of Jose Abreu. Adding Abreu to Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bergman and Kyle Tucker gives the Astros possibly the best lineup in baseball. The Astros are the most balanced team in baseball, and this is an experienced club that’s made constant deep playoff runs. Framber Valdez gets the ball, and he was 17-6 with a 2.82 ERA and 194 strikeouts last season. Valdez is 3-1 with a 3.41 ERA and 24 strikeouts in his career against the White Sox.
The White Sox are 4-1 in their last 5 Thursday games and 5-2 in their last 7 overall. The Astros are 44-16 in their last 60 home games and 40-13 in their last 53 overall. The under is 3-0-1 in White Sox last 4 road games. The under is 4-0-1 in Astros last 5 overall. The White Sox are 8-20 in the last 28 meetings in Houston and 10-22 in the last 32 meetings.
The Chicago White Sox are going to be good this season, but this is a tough spot to start the season, on the road against the defending champs and betting favorites to repeat. The Astros have had success against Cease, and Valdez is coming off a strong season. This feels like a celebration, and the Astros offense could get off to a fast start. Give me the Astros and the RL to shave down the hefty juice.
