No-No Sox
By Kevin Rogers
The White Sox are four years removed from a World Series title, and their offense has slowly disseminated. Ozzie Guillen’s team was ranked in the top 10 in runs scored in 2006 and 2008, but this season, the Pale Hose are in the bottom 10 in plating runners. The Sox trot out very few of the familiar names from the 2005 championship team, as the club is re-tooling for the future. This also means plenty of ‘under’ wagering opportunities for bettors.
The White Sox and Rangers are tied for the most ‘under’ hits this season with 42 entering Wednesday’s action, but at U.S. Cellular Field is where the Sox are cashing ‘unders’ at a fantastic pace. Chicago has finished ‘under’ the total in 26 of 35 home games following Tuesday’s 5-2 setback to the Dodgers. The Sox tallied only two hits the first eight innings off Hiroki Kuroda before a pair of meaningless base knocks in the ninth inning improved their hit total.
The offense has been the main issue with the team all season, batting a clip of .250. The holdovers from the title team in ’05 are veterans Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko, and A.J. Pierzynski. All three veterans are each batting over .265, and have combined for 32 home runs (Dye leads team with 15 homers). The rest of the lineup is still trying to come around. Jim Thome has drilled 12 home runs, but is hitting below the team average at .244. The Sox also relied on last season’s breakout star, Carlos Quentin, to help provide offensive pop. Quentin has appeared in only 38 games this season after suffering a left foot injury in late May. Quentin, who hit a career-high 36 home runs last season, hit just one long ball in his last 26 games before heading to the disabled list.
The younger players in this lineup may shoulder some of the blame for the lack of production. Second baseman Chris Getz is hitting .221 since the start of May, playing in 41 of the team’s 48 games over the last two months. Former Oklahoma State quarterback Josh Fields hasn’t taken off at third base yet. Fields is batting .227, while hitting three homers and driving in 21 runs. It also doesn’t help that Fields is 4-for-30 in the month of June, hitting a disastrous clip of .133. Center fielder Brian Anderson has also had a month to forget, batting .196 during June, despite missing only two games.
The key for the White Sox ‘unders’ trend at home is when the team faces right-handed starters. Chicago has nailed the ‘under’ in 20 of 23 games at U.S. Cellular Field against a right-handed pitcher. One of the three ‘overs’ came in late May when the Twins blasted the Sox, 20-1. The Sox have scored three runs or less 13 times in this 23-game stretch, but have allowed three runs or less on 13 occasions.
Chicago ace Mark Buehrle has hit the ‘under’ five times at home in this situation, with the average final total resulting in 6.8 runs/game. John Danks has seen the ‘under’ cash in five of his six starts when the Sox face a right-hander at home. The average runs scored in Danks’ six outings is 5.6 runs/game.
The Sox will see four straight right-handed starters at home from Thursday until Sunday. Chicago wraps up its series with Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon, facing Dodgers ace Chad Billingsley, who is tied for the National League lead in wins with nine. After the Dodgers leave town, the Sox play the second-half of the Windy City Series with the Cubs on the South Side. The Cubs will send out Randy Wells to the mound Friday, Ryan Dempster on Saturday, and Carlos Zambrano on Sunday. Both Buehrle and Danks will get an opportunity on the mound this weekend, as Buehrle is scheduled to pitch Saturday, and Danks on Sunday.
The White Sox have run into some great pitchers at home, and some not-so-great hurlers at the same time. The one consistency through nearly three months of the season is bettors can take advantage of ‘under’ plays when the Sox are at home against right-handed starting pitchers.
VegasInsider.com