By Only Players Staff
Updated 7/31/24 5:34am ET
Chicago has lost 16 straight games and try to avoid yet another sweep by KC. The Royals have won 10 of 11 meetings so far this season.
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Automated transcript is below. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.ย
I always find these types of situations extremely intriguing when it comes to handicapping. 16 straight losses for the Chicago White Sox. Are they in auto fade? Well, obviously the betting market knows they’ve lost that many in a row, but is the betting market going to incorporate sort of the locker room and the funk right now that they’re in? Probably not if you think it is palpable and predictive. So White Sox with the Royals in town still, Kansas City -185 favorites.
Still a heavy money line. You’re over under nine. All right, few things to discuss here. This White Sox offense has been putrid. Three or fewer runs in 11 of their last 12 games. They can’t hit. Now they did have face the Seattle Mariners staff last weekend, but still they’re just not generating much offense. Royals can, they did just enough in this game. So who’s going for the White Sox? Drew Thorpe, a guy who I thought was gonna be something. Now he was involved in the Dylan Cease trade.
When the White Sox sent him to San Diego, he was one of the prospects that came in return. 1.48 ERA over his last five starts, entering his last one against Seattle. Problem is he got roughed up. How about eight earned in the first inning alone gets yanked. Now he only got two outs, but all eight runs came after those two outs. So he really could have escaped without giving up a single run. He’s known for his change up. That’s really his outpitch mixing speeds.
And what the Mariners said after the game, they were just sitting on fastball. They were gonna let the changeups go and just sit on fastball. And they did. And they got a bunch of runs, five straight hits off fastballs. And that’s what had happened. So now the question is, because he’s only had, I believe, eight starts in his brief career, are the Royals gonna do the same? Have other lineups sort of figured him out, given he’s not like years and years of success? He was a young guy. Or is Thorpe gonna make the adjustments and involve his change up more and not let guys just sit on the fastball.
I think it’s a little bit of both. think people know how to face him now that there’s film and stuff like that on him. But I also don’t think Thorpe’s gonna make the same mistake. I’d still lay it with the Royals because I believe in this dysfunction right now on the South side of Chicago. But I do expect Thorpe to be competent. Again, he almost got out of that first inning without giving up a single run, so he gave up eight. So that’s just one ball in play. Keep that in mind, fading the white socks, never a bad idea.
