Kansas City Royals at Chicago White Sox Betting Preview/Prop Picks
01 August 2022
AL Central rivals are set to begin a series on Monday night as the Chicago White Sox host the Kansas City Royals. We have now reached the month of August, and all of the MLB games are going to be that much more important.
Kansas City enters this game with an overall record of 40-62, and they are not going to factor into the playoff race. The Royals have been a complete mess on the road this season and have started to sell off some players.
Chicago is back over the .500 mark at 51-50 on the year, but that’s still not where this team was expected to be. The White Sox are in the playoff hunt but have some work to do if they are going to catch the Twins.
The Chicago White Sox are the moneyline betting favorites at -172 over the Kansas City Royals in this AL Central showdown.
Royals Need Some Pitching
The Kansas City Royals have struggled in many areas this season, but it has been the starting pitching that has really the team down. Kansas City enters play on Monday night with a team ERA of 4.69, and that could be a problem in this game.
Brad Keller is set to make the start on Monday night, and he is just 5-11 with a 4.18 ERA on the year. Keller has pitched better of late, but he will have to be dominant with little run support coming behind him.
Kansas City traded away All-Star Andrew Benintendi last week, and that’s a move that will hurt the overall offensive production.
White Sox Offense Has to Step Up
The Chicago White Sox have belted just 88 home runs this season, and they have not lived up to expectations on offense. Chicago has some big names in that lineup, but they just haven’t been able to get anything going.
Jose Abreu leads the team with 12 home runs this season, and he has started to get hot of late. Chicago needs to be more productive on offense in the final two months of the year if they are going to reach the postseason.
Michael Kopech will be on the mound in this game, and he is 4-6 with a 3.16 ERA. Kopech is good enough to dominate the Royals, but he could use some production from his lineup.
White Sox Clobber the Royals
This has not been a great season for the Chicago White Sox, but there is still plenty of time to turn things around and get going. Kansas City has been one of the worst teams in baseball, and they also just traded away their best player.
Michael Kopech shouldn’t have a ton of trouble getting through this Royals lineup on Monday night, and that will take some pressure off of the Chicago offense. Look for the White Sox to strike early and often as they take control of this game and pick up a much-needed win to begin the month of August.
Take the Chicago White Sox -2.5 as they begin this series by beating their Central Division rivals by at least three runs.
Prop Picks
Kansas City (+100) UNDER 3.5 Runs
Kansas City is averaging 3.86 runs per 9 innings on offense, which ranks No. 26 in the league, with a team OPS of 688, which ranks No. 23. Scores have gone UNDER in nine of Kansas City’s last 13 road games versus the White Sox.
With Dunkel predicting a Chicago home victory by the score of 4-2, take the Royals (+110) to finish UNDER their Vegas team total of 3.5 runs against the White Sox.
Chicago White Sox (-120) Most Hits
Chicago is averaging 8.92 hits per 9 innings on offense, which ranks No. 3 in the league. Kansas City is averaging 8.31 hits per 9 innings on offense, which ranks No. 12 in the league. That average decreases to 8.12 hits per 9 innings on the road.
With Dunkel predicting a Chicago home win while holding the Royals UNDER their Vegas run total, take White Sox (-120) to finish with more hits than Kansas City.
Michael Kopech (+110) UNDER 2.5 Earned Runs
Kopech has allowed 31 earned runs in 88.1 innings pitched this season for an ERA of 3.16. The Chicago right hander’s ERA remains relatively steady at 3.22 (16 earned runs in 44.2 IP) at home while the OBA drops to .150 from .239 on the road.
With Dunkel predicting the final score staying UNDER the Vegas total, take Kopech (+110) to finish UNDER 2.5 earned runs allowed versus the Royals.
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All Media on this page by Associated Press.
