Los Angeles Angels @ Chicago White Sox - September 24, 2024

Let me tell you, as a die-hard White Sox fan, it’s tough to sit here and preview a game with so much heartache lately. But when the Los Angeles Angels come to town on Tuesday night, there is always that glimmer of hope. After all, this is baseball, right? Anything can happen!

We’re facing off against Jack Kochanowicz, a pitcher who has had a challenging season so far with a 2-5 record and an ERA of 4.6. He’s not exactly the ace you want on the mound in a high-pressure situation, but his strikeout ability—about 7.7 per game—could present some challenges for our struggling hitters. Still, I’ve got my lucky jersey on tonight because we all know how things can turn around in baseball.

On the other side, we’ve got Jonathan Cannon taking the mound for us. With a record of 4-10 and an ERA of nearly 4.9, it’s fair to say he hasn’t been having the best time either. His strikeout rate hovers around 8.4 per game which gives me just a touch of hope; if he gets his rhythm going early and manages to find his control, he might just keep the Angels’ bats quiet.

The trends don’t favor us at all though—five straight losses? That’s rough! And while I’ll always bleed South Side colors no matter what happens on that field, I can’t ignore that our offense has been abysmal lately too; averaging only about 3 runs and hitting .215 as a team just won’t cut it in this league.

In contrast, the Angels are coming off an exciting win against Houston where they scored 9 runs! They average close to 4 runs per game which should give them quite an edge over us in terms of offensive production. Their batting stats aren’t overwhelming with a .224 average either but when your opponent is struggling like we have been lately—things can quickly spiral out of control.

Oddsmakers have opened us as slight favorites at -105 and set the total at 8.5 runs for this matchup—a number that honestly feels low given both teams’ recent performances. Look, I’m putting my faith in our boys tonight despite everything: go big or go home!

Prediction? The Angels will take this one home by scoring enough to push that Over mark into play—maybe something like an 8-5 final score after we make it competitive late in the game (as we’ve done before). Just remember folks: It’s still baseball season until it’s not! So let’s cheer hard for our White Sox tonight—I know I will be shouting from my couch with my lucky jersey on! Here’s hoping they can turn things around—even if just for one night!