A Trio Of Plays As Cubs Take On White Sox

Cubs vs. White Sox, 7:15 ET

As far as Chicago sports go, this could be one of the worst years of all time. The Bulls were an embarrassment and recently traded their best player, DeMar DeRozan to the Sacramento Kings. The Blackhawks were the worst team in hockey, but were able to draft Connor Bedard. While it didn't lead to them making the playoffs, at least that was clearly the correct choice. The Bears did very little in their season, but they also ended up with the #1 pick once again and took Caleb Williams. The Cubs were supposed to be playoff contenders, but they played three terrible months of baseball. The White Sox are the worst team in baseball, and possibly the worst team we've seen in years.

As mentioned, coming into this season, the Cubs were expected to be competitors for the National League Central crown. In addition, there was some hope they could potentially make a deep playoff run. Right now, the Cubs are under .500. However, they are playing their best baseball in months and that is giving some final optimism before the team crushes my soul once again. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, the team is just 10-9 since the All-Star Break. They were able to win their past two series against the Twins and Cardinals. The North Side club now heads over to the South Side to play against their city rivals. In order to win this game, they won't need the ace performance from Justin Steele, but it would be nice to get it anyway. Right now, Steele is 3-5 with a 3.33 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He has made 18 starts this season and has been slightly better on the road than at home. However, at night, he has put up a 2.88 ERA compared to 4.25 during the day. The White Sox have faced Steele in just 16 at-bats, with 10 of them coming from Nick Senzel, who is 5-for-10 against him. Steele has been a bit inconsistent lately, but did just put up a nice performance against the Cardinals, going 6.2 innings and allowing just two earned runs.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JUNE 07: Luis Robert Jr. #88 of the Chicago White Sox hits a home run in the first inning off Cooper Criswell  of the Boston Red Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on June 07, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

The White Sox are the biggest joke of a franchise in sports right now. The team is owned by a guy that has experienced more success than most owners and refuses to invest into his team. I will always laugh at the fact that the biggest contract he has ever handed out is to Andrew Benintendi. Five years for 75 million dollars isn't cheap. $15 million dollars a year is a lot of money, but the reality is that this franchise is in one of the biggest markets and they don't seem to invest into the club. For the season, the White Sox have a .216 batting average and have only scored 360 runs this season. They recently lost 21 straight games. The list goes on and on in terms of their futility. I'd be lying if I thought next season would be much better. Their best player, Luis Robert Jr., is likely to be traded - and that will be difficult because he is always injured. Garrett Crochet, yesterday's starter, is also likely to be sent away. This whole thing is a s%$# show. Tonight they send out Chris Flexen to the hill. Flexen is 2-11 for the season with a 5.53 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. He has allowed 46 walks in 114 innings, and 124 hits. That's a lot of baserunners, and even with the Cubs being a below-average offensive team, they should be able to get some runs in.

This is another one of those games where I'm going to put three plays out here. I'm taking the Cubs through five innings on the run line. I'll take the Cubs for the full game on the run line. And, I think Steele will hold the White Sox to two or fewer runs. I'll back their team total under. However, I would prefer to take the under 3.5 if I can find it at a reasonable price. Back all three of these and lets take advantage of this bad White Sox team while the Cubs are playing better than they have.

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