On Thursday, the Texas Rangers (60-71, 3rd AL West) will face off against the Chicago White Sox (31-101, 5th AL Central) in the final game of their three-game series. The initial game of the series was interrupted just after four pitches due to bad weather and is now part of a doubleheader scheduled for Wednesday. The Rangers enter this matchup on a two-game losing streak, having lost to the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday. Currently, Texas is trailing the Houston Astros by 9.5 games in the American League West and is 11.5 games away from the last AL wildcard spot. Meanwhile, the White Sox have just been swept by the Detroit Tigers in a four-game series and have lost eight of their last nine games. They are the first team in Major League Baseball to be officially out of playoff contention this season. Texas will be missing six pitchers and left fielder Evan Carter, while Chicago will be without seven pitchers and position players Yoan Moncada and Max Stassi.
This article was written prior to the doubleheader between these two teams on Wednesday.
Texas Grapples with Offense and Defense
The Rangers have recently struggled to find their rhythm, currently ranking 21st in batting average (.237), 22nd in on-base percentage (.305), 23rd in runs scored (548), and 24th in slugging percentage (.377). Corey Seager stands out as the team’s power hitter, leading with 29 home runs and 71 RBIs. Adolis Garcia follows closely, contributing 21 home runs and tying with Marcus Semien for second in RBIs at 63. Notably, Texas has eight players who have driven in between 38 and 71 runs this season. The team has accumulated 173 doubles, 14 triples, and a total of 139 home runs, resulting in 326 extra-base hits over 131 games.
Currently, the pitching staff is also facing challenges, sitting 15th in batting average allowed (.240), 18th in Quality Starts (46), 20th in WHIP (1.29), and 24th in ERA (4.31). Nathan Eovaldi is projected to start on Thursday, and he leads the team with 9 wins and holds the best ERA among the starting pitchers at 3.79. Andrew Heaney has recorded the most strikeouts for Texas, totaling 131. Eovaldi’s record stands at 9-7 with 128 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.10.
Chicago’s Struggles on Both Sides of the Game
The White Sox are having a particularly tough season, ranking near the bottom in several offensive categories. They sit 29th in batting average (.221), last in runs scored (411), on-base percentage (.278), and slugging percentage (.344). Andrew Vaughn leads the team with 15 home runs and 59 RBIs, while Andrew Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr. both have 14 home runs. Throughout the season, the White Sox have managed 199 doubles, 8 triples, and 108 home runs, resulting in 315 extra-base hits across 132 games.
On the pitching front, Chicago ranks 23rd in Quality Starts (43), 26th in batting average allowed (.256), and is among the worst in both ERA (4.91) and WHIP (1.45). Garrett Crochet is currently leading the pitching staff with 6 wins and 180 strikeouts, while his ERA stands at 3.64. At the time this article was written, the White Sox had yet to announce their starting pitcher for Thursday’s game against Texas.
Betting Insights for Texas Rangers vs. Chicago White Sox
In their last ten games, Texas has managed to win only four times, with three of those victories coming by just a single run. Nathan Eovaldi, the starting pitcher for the Rangers, has faced difficulties in his last five outings, allowing 32 hits and 17 runs over 27 innings, resulting in Texas losing three of those games. While Eovaldi possesses the best ERA on the Texas pitching staff and ranks 14th in WHIP across the league, the White Sox’s offense may find ways to capitalize against him.
Texas has struggled on the runline, covering only 43.5% of the time, while Chicago is slightly worse at 40.9%. In their previous encounters this season, however, Chicago has covered the runline in three of the four meetings. Despite Chicago’s struggles this season, with 101 losses to date, Texas’s pitching issues and lack of offensive production—averaging just 4.18 runs per game—make it difficult for them to secure decisive victories.
