Gamethread: White Sox at Royals

The White Sox look to recover from their loss on Opening Day to the division rival Royals. After a slow day offensively, the Sox rallied for three runs and loaded the bases in the ninth inning before a Yolmer Sánchez flyout ended their chances of a comeback. It has rained (and snowed) in Kansas City today, but for a change, the delay is only expected to be 30 minutes this time.

Reynaldo López, one of the key pieces of the rebuild, makes his first start of the season. He will be an interesting story to follow, as his 2018 ERA (3.91) was solid, but his advanced peripherals (4.63 FIP and 5.22 xFIP) showed some negative prospective signs. One of his main statistical weaknesses was his walk rate (3.58/9 innings). He could have a big year if he limits those this year. López will square off against Jakob Junis, who had a 4.37 ERA in 177 innings of work last year.

The starting lineups are as follows:

Eloy got his first RBI of his major league career in the season opener, but he is still looking for his first hit. For now, I like the idea of him hitting in the five spot. The White Sox only managed four hits on Opening Day, all singles. Through one game, Moncada is the Sox’ leading hitter with a .333/.500/.333 slash line (and a 0% K rate).

The game will be available on NBC Sports Chicago. First pitch was originally scheduled for 1:15 CST, but Scott Merkin has announced that it has been pushed back to 1:45.