Chicago White Sox vs Seattle Mariners 04/05/2021 MLB Odds, Preview and Prediction

The Chicago White Sox open their second series of the season against the Seattle Mariners on Monday.

Chicago’s move to hire three-time World Series champion Tony La Russa put them third in the 2021 World Series odds boards at +900, with only the L.A. Dodgers and New York Yankees. Meanwhile, the Mariners missed last season’s playoffs by a mere two games and they enter this season with a +2500 odds to win the American League West and a 100/1 odds to win the World Series before the start of the season.

Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox lost two out of the first three games of their opening series against the Los Angeles Angels with a final game still being played as of this writing The White Sox finished last season with a 35-25 record and advanced to the wild card round of the playoffs where they lost to the Oakland Athletics two games to one. After the postseason debacle, manager Rick Renteria and replaced him with Hall of Famer Tony La Russa.

Jose Abreu led the MLB with 60 RBIs last season while batting at .317 with 19 home runs. Tim Anderson and Luis Robert combined for 21 home runs and 52 RBIs last season. The White Sox are without Eloy Jimenez who is out with a torn pectoral muscle. Catcher Yermin Mercedes is off to a fast start with one home run and 6 RBIs in only nine at-bats. Abreu has one home run and 4 RBIs in their first three games of the season while newcomer Adam Eaton has one homer and 3 RBIs.

Left-hander Carlos Rodon will open on top of the mound for the White Sox. Rodon was 0-2 with an ERA of 8.22 and a WHIP of 1.57 last season. He pitched in a total of 7.2 innings and allowed nine hits with seven runs including one home run while conceding 3 walks and striking out six hitters. Chicago closer Liam Hendrix has one save this season despite giving up two earned runs in 1 ⅓ inning pitched.

What are the Moneyline Odds?

White Sox

-121

Mariners

+111

Odds from BetOnline as of 04/05/2021

Seattle Mariners

The Seattle Mariners finished third in the AL West last year with a 27-33 record. They missed the playoffs by two games and they are currently a +2500 to win their division with Houston, Oakland, and Los Angeles having better odds than them. The Mariners are 2-1 on the season after taking their series finale against the San Francisco Giants 4-0 last Saturday.

Right fielder Mitch Hangier batted .308 against the Giants with one home run while Dylan Moore drove in four out of the team’s total 15 runs in the three-game series. Kyle Seager had 9 home runs and a team-high 40 RBIs for the Mariners last season while Evan White had 8 homers and 26 RBIs for Seattle. Seager and White have combined for only two RBIs after their first series while last season’s team home run leader JP Crawford only has one hit in nine at-bats.

Justus Sheffield will get the start for Seattle in the series opener. Sheffield posted a 4-3 record last season in 10 starts. He finished with an ERA of 3.58 and a WHIP of 1.30. Sheffield pitched in a total of 55 ⅓ innings and had a 28:20 strikeout to walk ration last season. He gave up a total of 52 hits with 23 runs, including 22 earned runs. Seattle closer Rafael Montero had eight saves in as many opportunities last season while posting an ERA of 4.08 and a WHIP of 1.02 in 17 games pitched.

Who Wins?

The White Sox are 1-4 in their last five games played overall. Chicago is 2-9 SU in their last 11 road games played, 0-6 in their last six games against a starter with a WHIP better than 1.15, 1-4 in their last five games against the AL West, and 1-4 in their last five Game 1s of a series. They are also 3-8 in their last 11 games against an opponent with a winning record, 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games when the total is set between 7-8.5, and 1-4 in their last five games played on grass.

Seattle is 4-0 in their last four games as the betting underdog at home, 4-1 in their last five games as an underdog, 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games against the American League Central, 8-2 in their last 10 games against an opponent with a winning percentage below .400, 4-1 in their last five games played, and 4-1 in their last five home games when the total is set between 7.0-8.5.

Although the White Sox are favored here, they will be playing for the 5th consecutive day and they will likely need to use several relief pitchers on Monday, especially with Rodon getting the start.

Head to head, the Mariners are 4-1 in their last five games played against the White Sox. I think Sheffield has a solid outing here and with a rested bullpen behind him, I’m going to take the plus money and the underdogs here.

Prediction: Seattle Mariners

Over/Under Betting

The total has gone over in seven out of the last 10 games played by the White Sox. The over is 7-3 in Chicago’s last 10 games played on grass, 5-1-1 in their last seven road games with the total set to 7.0-8.6, 6-2 in their last eight overall games with the total set between 7.0 to 8.5, and 13-4-3 in their last 20 games against a left-handed starter.

The Mariners have seen the total go over in seven out of their last 9 Monday games. The over is 3-1-1 in their last five games overall, 3-1-1 in their last five games on grass, 23-8-1 in their last 32 games after an off day, 6-2-1 in their last nine games as the betting underdogs, 23-9-2 in their last 34 games against the American League Central, and 7-3-1 in their last 11 games when the total is set between 7-8.5. The total has gone over in four out of their last five games against an opponent with a winning percentage below .400. Head to head, the total has gone over in six out of the last seven meetings between these two teams.

Given Rodon’s inability to stick around long enough in games, the Seattle offense should get going in this contest. Chicago was the second-best batting team in the majors last season at .285 against left-handed pitchers. Having said those, I think there are plenty of opportunities for both squads to put on a high-scoring game here. I like these teams to hit the over in this game.

Prediction: Over 8.5

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