Gamethread: Marlins at White Sox

The Sox seem to be playing with some urgency, starting strong in June with a 6-1 record. That’s a welcome start, considering they went 8-19 in April and 15-14 in May. They now have acres of ground to make up just to pull even at .500. With wins from Minnesota and Cleveland last night, the Good Guys are still only 3 1⁄2 games back of the first-place Twinkies. Slow and steady may simply win the race here.

This afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Pale Hose will face the Miami Marlins for game two of the three-game series. The Fish are in second place in a tough NL East division, with a 35-29 record. The South Siders broke the Marlins’ six-game winning streak with their walk-off last evening.

---

Michael Kopech gets the bump today for the daytime contest. In his last four starts, three of them have been first-rate. He’s surrendered six runs on 11 hits and struck out 38 in 26 1⁄3 innings. He also lowered his ERA from 4.83 to 4.33 during that span, and his WHIP from 1.33 to 1.18.

Today will be the first start against the Miami Marlins in Kopech’s career. However, he has faced several players, including Jorge Soler and Yuli Gurriel, when they were with other teams. Soler has done well against Kopech with two hits, including a double and one walk in four at-bats. On the other hand, Gurriel hasn’t had much luck, going 1-for-7 with two strikeouts. The Marlins can expect to see a four-pitch mix from Kopech: 4-seam fastball (62.9%), slider (24%), changeup (6.9%), and curveball (6.2%).

Baseball Savant

Opposite Kopech, the Marlins will send their ace Sandy Alcántara to the mound. Coincidentally, Alcántara has never made a start against the White Sox. The reigning National League Cy Young winner has really scuffled this year in his 12 starts, going 2-5 with a 5.07 ERA in 76 1⁄3 innings after having a fantastic All-Star season in 2022. Hopefully, the White Sox can take advantage of his early struggles. Alcántara has only previously faced Clint Frazier and Yasmani Grandal, and they’re a combined 1-for-6, so not great. Alcántara relies on four pitches: sinker (27.6%), changeup (26.5%), 4-seam fastball (25.2%), and slider (20.7%). That’s a lot of pitches with movement from a pitcher most of the lineup has never seen. I already smell loads of Sox strikeouts.

Baseball Savant

---

Here is the starting lineup for the White Sox:

Here is the starting lineup for the Marlins:

The game is at 1:10 p.m. CST. Watch on NBCSCHI and listen in at ESPN-AM 1000.