Royals vs. White Sox Odds & Picks: Can Chicago Win Big?

Royals vs. White Sox Odds

After dropping the opening game of the series, the Chicago White Sox have now lost eight straight games. They look to right the ship Wednesday afternoon against the Kansas City Royals and pull even in this three game series.

Suddenly, the White Sox have found themselves in last place in the AL Central. As the frustration mounts, the revolving door to their IL finds them up AJ Pollock and without Eloy Jimenez.

The Royals don't have any notable injuries although Adalberto Mondesi did exit Tuesday's game with an apparent knee injury.

Dylan Cease gets the start for the White Sox as he takes on certifiable space cadet Zack Greinke. This should be a fun one. Let's discuss where to find some value.

Is Zack Greinke Headed for Negative Regression?

Although Mondesi exited Tuesday's game with an injury, he's really struggled so far this season. His -12 wRC+ is the second-worst in MLB among qualified players and somehow he's managed to do that with a career high BB%.

Speaking of wRC+, four of the bottom 20 qualified position players in wRC+ are Kansas City Royals. Whit Merrifield occupies the third spot on that list with a -7 wRC+ and you have to wonder what's in the water at those fountains at Kaufman Stadium. I'm assuming that is also the Royals' drinking water. I could be wrong.

However, Greinke has been giving a vintage performance so far in 2022. And I don't mean vintage Greinke as in he's pitching like his old self, I mean vintage in that he probably throws as hard as pitchers did in 1940s.

But, hey. It's working.

This will be Greinke's first road start and one red flag here is that he has been really pitching to contact. He has just two strikeouts this season, and he has had the luxury of facing three struggling offenses at home, which could be padding his numbers.

White Sox Searching for Answers

The White Sox must be listening to a lot of Tom Petty because they are … Free Falling!

They have been on a miserable stretch, but they are too talented of a team to lose this much. It's just unfortunate for them that the rest of their division got more talented and they are actually going to have to work harder for wins than they have in years past.

The White Sox are still a bottom third offense in team wRC+ and a bottom five offense in runs scored, but a return home could be just what they need to get things back on track.

Their offense has struggled at home so far this season, but they may be due for positive regression, or the laws of averages, or something, right? They can't be this bad.

With Cease on the mound, the White Sox should at the very least be able to keep the Royals off the board. Hopefully that reduces the pressure on the offense.

Royals-White Sox Pick

The combination of Greinke almost exclusively pitching to contact and a White Sox offense itching to break out seems to be a good combination for a bounce back.

Cease is a much stronger pitcher at home and his stuff has looked very impressive so far this year. Although the White Sox are the favorite, this could be a recipe for a big win.

The White Sox run line is the play here. At the time of writing it was set at +130 and it should be strongly considered as long as it's in plus territory.

Pick: White Sox RL -1.5 (+125)