Gamethread: Cardinals at White Sox

In an interleague matchup between two division leaders, the Cardinals (26-20) travel to Guaranteed Rate Field to face the White Sox (26-19). Though the White Sox are on pace for a strong record of 94-68, they have lost three consecutive games entering play tonight. It was a rough series for the South Siders in the Bronx, as the Yankees pulled off a sweep with two nail-biters and one blowout.

Lance Lynn will put his 1.55 ERA on the line, as he is set to start on the mound for the White Sox. Lynn has a 3.05 FIP and a 3.95 xFIP, and according to FanGraphs, he has already been worth 1.2 WAR this season. In Lynn’s most recent start, he got a no-decision in a 5-4 loss to the Twins, but Lynn had a quality start (six innings, two earned runs, five hits, one walk, and two strikeouts).

Kwang Hyun Kim, a 32-year-old left-hander, will pitch for the Cardinals. Kim is off to a strong start, as he has a 2.73 ERA, a 2.62 FIP, and a 3.78 xFIP this season. This renders him a 0.8-WAR pitcher, putting him on pace for roughly 2.8 WAR over the course of a full season.

2020 was Kim’s first year in the majors, and he had a 1.62 ERA in 39 innings during the short season. However, the peripherals (3.88 FIP, 4.52 xFIP) were less convinced of his effectiveness, mainly due to his low strikeout rate (5.5 K/9). The good news for Kim is that his strikeout rate is much higher in 2021 (9.2 K/9).

Here are tonight’s starting lineups:

Interestingly, Adam Eaton, who is hitting .105/.190/.158 against lefties, finds himself batting second. Hopefully, Eaton can reverse this trend tonight.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. CST, and WMVP 1000 AM will have the radio coverage. ESPN will televise it, but I imagine that most White Sox fans will be more interested in the NBC Sports Chicago broadcast. Anyway, it is time to end the losing streak.