Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago White Sox Betting Odds, Picks & Predictions (Tuesday, August 25)

Pirates vs. White Sox Odds

Odds as of Tuesday afternoon and via DraftKings. Get up to a $1,000 sign-up bonus at DraftKings today or see more offers and reviews for the best online sportsbooks.

Fresh off of taking two of three games from their crosstown rivals, the White Sox will send their ace Lucas Giolito to the hill to face the lowly Pirates. Chicago has been on a tear offensively as of late and have now moved to within two games of the Twins in the AL Central. The Pirates, on the other hand, have the worst record in MLB and look like they’d rather be anywhere else than playing baseball at the moment.

Pirates Projected Starter

Steven Brault, LHP

Projected Stats (ZIPS) (via Fangraphs)

Pitch Arsenal (via Baseball Savant)

Steven Brault is a below-average lefty who’s been teetering between the bullpen and the starting rotation for the past four years now. The reason being is that Brault has some real issues with his control. For his career, he has a 4.67 BB/9 rate and so far this year he has walked seven batters in only 12 innings.

Brault primarily uses his fastball, but it’s not a very effective pitch. It has average velocity and his location is terrible, as hitters tagged him for a .375 wOBA in 2019. His cutter and changeup are fairly effective, as he generated over a 20% whiff rate in 2019 with those pitches. 

This start projects to be a disaster for Brault, because not only are the White Sox the best offense in baseball right now, they’re also top of the league against left-handed pitching.

White Sox Projected Lineup

The South Siders have been scorching hot over the past two weeks. In their last 13 games, they have a .373 wOBA and 140 wRC+, which leads MLB. They’ve also hit 34 home runs and scored 76 runs during that span. Jose Abreu has been the best hitter in baseball the last two weeks, hitting eight home runs with a .592 wOBA.

The White Sox have been absolutely obliterating left-handed pitching so far in 2020. They have a .305 batting average and a .402 wOBA in 257 plate appearances, which leads MLB. They’ll have another fantastic matchup on Tuesday night against Brault.

Bullpens

The Pirates bullpen has been terrible to this point in the season, ranking 25th in MLB in terms of xFIP (4.87). Chicago’s bullpen has drastically outperformed their preseason projections, as they have the fouth-best bullpen in baseball with a 3.83 xFIP.

Projections and Pick

The White Sox lineup has a fantastic matchup against Brault on Tuesday. Rather than playing -240 on the moneyline, I am going to back the White Sox team total over 5.5 runs at +112 (BetRivers), but I would only bet it down to +110.

The Pick: White Sox Team Total Over 5.5 runs (+112)

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