Game Thread: Marlins at White Sox

The South Siders look to end the four-game losing streak against Miami after a tough series in Kansas City

After being embarrassingly swept in a four-game set in Kansas City, the White Sox (10-28) are back home to take on the Miami Marlins (14-22) and (hopefully) end the losing streak. The South Siders are 3-7 in their last 10 games, and have the second worst OPS over the past week (.534), only ahead of the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates.

Righthander Bryse Wilson will have the start for the Good Guys, and unfortunately he hasn’t had the best year either. He’s at a 5.56 ERA in 22 2/3 innings on the year, but is posting a 7.47 ERA in his last 7 games, inclusive of his two starts. Wilson is also walking batters at way too high of a rate (10.4% walk rate), averaging over four walks per nine innings. To make it worse, he is also only striking out players at a 14.2% clip. Ideally he can get a few quality innings in before having to hand it over to a tumultuous White Sox bullpen.

Chase Meidroth was originally starting at shortstop tonight, but the White Sox released an updated lineup about a 30 minutes later that had Jacob Amaya replacing him. Vargas will take over in the leadoff spot while playing first this evening, and Andrew Vaughn will DH and bat fourth, because it totally makes sense to have your designated hitter be the guy that has one of the worst batting averages on the team (.186). Though to Vaughn’s credit, he is slashing .304/.304/.435 over the last week, but he is seemingly not capable of walking to get on base.

Max Meyer will be making his eighth start for the Marlins this year, and has been pretty solid in his 39 innings, posting a 3.92 ERA and a 1.359 WHIP. His slider seems to be his best pitch, as he throws it 37.4% of the time, and it has struck out batters at a high 45% strikeout rate alongside a 46% whiff rate. This could definitely be a problem pitch for the South Siders tonight.

On the offensive side, the Marlins have a .627 OPS over the past week, and have also only mustered a .217 team batting average, 23rd in the league, just above the White Sox at 24th. Agustín Ramírez has been Miami’s best slugger in the last few weeks, and has reached a .963 OPS and slugged four home runs in 14 games with the team (53 at-bats). Left fielder, Kyle Stowers, has also been a staple in the Marlins lineup, with an .879 OPS and a .504 slugging percentage on the season.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. CT, and though the skies will be clear, it will be a chillier evening in the mid-to-low 50s — much too cold for May if you ask me! Catch the live action on CHSN or listen in on ESPN AM 1000