Gamethread: Rangers at White Sox

With the offense coming to life during yesterday’s ballgame against the Texas Rangers, the Chicago White Sox look to keep it going, especially because the are finally a game better than .500 for the first time all season!

In order to match the offense in effectiveness, the Sox’s bullpen — well, some arms in the bullpen — are still trying to find their top-notch form. When those stars align, this team is going to score everything and give up nothing. It’s coming.

Dallas Keuchel (1-0) will take the mound for the South Siders today. He has been incredibly effective the first time through the order, but once he sees batters more than once, he typically finds himself in trouble, mostly because of his low strikeout percentage. For a ground-ball pitcher, strikeouts are not everything, but they help! Keuchel invites a 12.3% strikeout rate, which is a part of the bottom 3% of the league amongst qualified pitchers. Keuchel sports a 5.68 ERA, 5.49 xERA, and a 5.36 FIP; Dallas is definitely ready to lower these numbers against the team from Arlington.

On the other hand, Kyle Gibson (2-0) has had a strong start to his season. His 2.53 ERA, 2.36 xERA, and 2.40 FIP are all very respectable. Being a sinker-ball pitcher like Keuchel, Gibson does own a higher strikeout percentage (20.7%). The Good Guys plan to drop that number down closer to Keuchel’s and take advantage of early high sinkers.

With yesterday’s lineup being my favorite of the season, I’m glad it is being repeated today!

Yoán Moncada heating up is such a welcomed sight!

Here is how Texas plans to line up against Keuchel:

Joey Gallo hopes to be more impactful for his team tonight.

Today’s game starts at 6:10 p.m. CT on NBC Sports Chicago+ and FS1, whoa! ESPN WMVP and WRTO have your radio coverages. Jeremy Karll will provide your Six Pack tonight.

Enjoy the game, and let’s go win the series on a Saturday!