Yankees vs. White Sox: Predictions, Odds, Best Bets, Starting Lineups (8/9/23)

The Yankees avoided a series loss on Tuesday night, and they have a chance to earn a rare series win on Wednesday. They’ll have to do it with a gap in their rotation, as Luis Severino isn’t likely take his turn after another ugly outing. Can Mike Clevinger and the White Sox pull off the series win?

Let’s take a look at the odds and make predictions for Wednesday’s game, breaking down why the Yankees can make it back-to-back wins.

Yankees vs. White Sox Prediction Today

The Yankees have had a very hard time stringing together wins since, well, the early weeks of the season. That has a chance to change on Wednesday.

Simply not starting Luis Severino is enough to be addition by subtraction for the Yankees, who could be penciled in for a near-automatic loss in recent Severino starts. It’s not definite, but Aaron Boone has indicated he won’t be starting. Going with a spot starter is a risk, but the White Sox’ offense simply hasn’t been producing much at all outside of Luis Robert.

It’s tough to say the Yankees’ lineup has been much better, but with Chicago running out almost a AAA bullpen at this point, Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres should be able to lead the charge in the later innings. If the bullpens are the difference in this game, the Yankees absolutely have that advantage.

On the road with pitching uncertainty, there should be enough value left on the Yankees moneyline to make it the best pick here.

Yankees vs. White Sox Prediction: Yankees Moneyline

Yankees vs. White Sox Odds

Uncertainty in the rotation should leave some value on the moneyline where the Yankees are currently -120 favorites. The spread is 1 and the over/under is 9.

It’s been a rough few weeks for New York, but the same can be said for a White Sox team that hasn’t been able to build momentum in any phase of the game. Is this the series the Yankees finally win? Their only series wins in the last six or so weeks have come against the lowly A’s and Royals.

Yankees vs. White Sox Key Matchups

Here are the key matchups that could decide Yankees vs. White Sox.

Yankees vs. White Sox’ Bullpen
The Yankees are going to see a good chunk of the White Sox’ bullpen on Wednesday, in all likelihood. Mike Clevinger has only hit the six-inning mark in four of his 14 starts this season, and he’s never lasted into the 7th inning. That could be a problem for a White Sox team that just traded four key pieces from its ‘pen (including one to the Yankees).

Chicago has lost five key arms when accounting for injured closer Liam Hendriks, and this group was already bottom-10 in ERA. This is a fresh group of inexperienced arms in the White Sox’ bullpen, and the inexperience showed a bit in Tuesday’s loss.

With Clevinger only making his third start off the IL, the Yankees’ best path to winning this game might be to quickly break into Chicago’s ‘pen.

Mike Clevinger vs. Gleyber Torres

Aaron Judge had a rough series against the Astros, but he reminded everyone on Tuesday night that he’s a dangerous hitter when he homered for the 21st time this year. Right now, there’s one (and only one) dangerous bat in the Yankees’ lineup: Gleyber Torres. Torres entered Tuesday with a 1.427 OPS over his last seven games, one of his best stretches in a solid but often inconsistent season.

Torres will be facing a pitcher in Clevinger who once was excellent at limiting hits but has seen his hit rate worsen to 8.5 per nine this season. He’s also likely to face much of an inexperienced White Sox bullpen. As long as Torres is hitting third, he’s being counted on as protection for Judge. The Yankees will need Torres to capitalize if the White Sox pitch around Judge, and he’s been hot enough to believe it can happen.

Yankees vs. White Sox Starting Lineups

Yankees Starting Lineup
1B Jake Bauers L
RF Aaron Judge R
2B Gleyber Torres R
DH Giancarlo Stanton R
3B DJ LeMahieu R
LF Isiah Kiner-Falefa R
CF Harrison Bader R
SS Anthony Volpe R
C Ben Rortvedt L

White Sox Starting Lineup
SS Tim Anderson R
LF Andrew Benintendi L
CF Luis Robert R
DH Eloy Jimenez R
3B Yoan Moncada L
1B Andrew Vaughn R
C Yasmani Grandal S
RF Oscar Colas L
2B Elvis Andrus R