Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox Series Preview and Odds
Minnesota Keeps Cruising
Somewhat under the radar, the Chicago White Sox this week. Vegas’ Twins vs White Sox predictions have Minnesota as -180 moneyline favorites for Monday’s opener and as -120 run line favorites. The total is nine runs.
Royce Lewis’ latest injury hasn’t stopped Minnesota from scoring as the Twins have posted 36 runs in their last four games and just took a weekend series from the streaking Houston Astros.
The Twins’ rotation hasn’t been anything special this season but when you’re scoring as much as Minnesota is, you typically can find a way to win games even with key contributors on the injured list. Any MLB picks and parlays should have the Twins beating up on Chicago this week.
The nightmarish 2024 White Sox campaign rolls on as Pedro Grifol’s team has lost five of seven and is the first team to fall 40 games below .500 this season.
They’re just playing out the string at this point, waiting until the trade deadline when staff ace Garrett Crochet will likely be traded along with almost anyone else of value. The lineup is one of the worst in baseball and the pitching staff isn’t much better. Plus, Crochet isn’t even lined up to pitch this series to make matters worse.
Minnesota Twins vs Chicago White Sox 
📊 Records: Minnesota Twins (51-39), Chicago White Sox (22-66)
📅 Date, Time: Monday, July 8th, 8:10 PM ET
📍 Location: Guaranteed Rate Field; Chicago, Illinois
Minnesota Should Hit Chicago Hard
A major component of any Twins vs White Sox predictions has to be the fact that the White Sox are one of the worst teams in MLB history. But, it also should be noted that Minnesota has a very deep lineup and is in the top-six in the major offensive statistical categories.
The Twins are fourth in OPS and runs scored and are sixth in batting average, on-base percentage and home runs. Even the guy they called up to replace the injured Lewis — top prospect Brooks Lee — has been on fire, serving as another offensive weapon for Minnesota.
The scary thing about the Twins is that it’s not just one or two guys carrying the entire team. While Carlos Correa is Minnesota’s only All-Star and José Miranda took the baseball world by storm with a record-tying 12-at-bat hitting streak, guys like Ryan Jeffers, Willi Castro, Carlos Santana and Byron Buxton have also been big contributors.
Minnesota has weapons from top to bottom, making it difficult for any opposing staff to avoid trouble. No wonder their MLB playoff odds per Fangraphs have already jumped to over 85 percent.
White Sox Can’t Produce Runs
Suffice to say that this could be a difficult series for the White Sox, whose rotation and bullpen each have the fifth-highest ERA in the Majors and won’t have the benefit of Crochet until their next series.
If you’re making Twins vs White Sox predictions, consider that Chicago is throwing Chris Flexen, Erick Fedde and rookie Drew Thorpe on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday against the red-hot Twins’ bats.
Flexen, is in particular danger against Minnesota because, in addition to his 5.08 ERA, he has given up 15 home runs in 85 innings so far. That’s a high 1.6 longball/9 inning rate and the Twins are likely to take full advantage of his susceptibility to the dinger.
In fact, Flexen has allowed at least one home run in each of his last five starts and gave up two apiece to the Guardians and Dodgers in his most recent outings.
Fedde and Thorpe have been much better than Flexen — Fedde will garner a lot of interest on the trade market — this MLB regular season but even if they are able to hold Minnesota in check, they likely won’t have much help from the Chicago bullpen to hold a potential lead.
In addition to the high ERA, the White Sox relievers have the the second-highest WHIP in the Majors and have walked the most batters on a per-inning basis. When you give up a lot of baserunners, particularly via the walk, you put yourself in a position to fail.
Went out with a bang 💥 pic.twitter.com/s3oHSHK8wn
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 8, 2024
Expect Twins To Roll
- For all the above reasons, you should take Minnesota to win by two runs or more at -120 on the run line for Monday’s opener with Chris Paddack returning from the IL to face Flexen. Paddack hasn’t been great this season but the combination of Minnesota’s offense and Chicago’s pitching staff gives the Twins a huge advantage here.
Also, while the over/under set at nine runs feels a little high, you should take the over. Look for plenty of runs to be scored in this one as Minnesota continues to destroy opposing pitching.
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