3 Best Bets for Wednesday's Crosstown Classic Matchup: White Sox at Cubs (8/16/23)

The 2023 edition of the Windy City rivalry concludes tonight as the Chicago White Sox (48-72) make the short trip north to take on the Chicago Cubs (61-58). First pitch is slated for 8:05 pm EST at Wrigley Field.

With just 11 miles separating Chicago's two baseball teams, summer bragging rights are on the line ahead of the Chicago Bears' football season.

Though the Cubs swept the two-game set on the south side last month (7-3 and 10-7), the White Sox came out ahead last night 5-3. With a win tonight, the Cubs would secure the cross-town cup for the first time since 2020.

Even with last night's loss, the north siders find themselves much closer to contention than their American League foes. Thanks to a 19-11 second-half stretch, the Cubs are just 3.5 games back in the NL Central.

Things haven't been nearly as sweet for the White Sox of late. They've gone just 10-18 since the All-Star break and are 14.5 games back in the AL Central.

A pair of righties face off tonight with Mike Clevinger (5-5) toeing the rubber for the Sox and Javier Assad (2-2) on the bump for the Cubs.

Using numberFire's projections as a guide, which White Sox-Cubs odds from FanDuel Sportsbook are most appealing today?

Note: Lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published. All stats come from FanGraphs and Baseball Savant unless noted otherwise. Please check here to make sure you're seeing the most updated projections.

Best Bets for White Sox-Cubs

Cubs -1.5 (+112)

The Cubs' offense let us down yesterday, but we're back -- this time coming from a different angle.

While I like the Cubs' team total of 5.5 (-122), the juice we're getting for them to cover -1.5 is far more appealing. Though they lost last night, the Cubs had previously beaten the White Sox by four and three runs in their two earlier meetings.

The biggest reason I like this is the pitching matchup.

On the Cubs' side, Javier Assad is expected to start, though they still haven't officially announced who will fill Marcus Stroman's vacant rotation spot.

Assad has quietly been solid this season, but most of his work has come in relief. He's really taken off over the last two months, compiling a 1.09 ERA and 3.60 Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) since June 27th.

He'll be aided by a weak White Sox lineup whose .292 wOBA against righties is tied for the lowest mark in all of baseball.

On the flip side, I still like the Cubs' red-hot offense despite them cooling off over the last week. The Cubs have still averaged the second-most runs per game (6.3) since the All-Star break in addition to ranking second in wOBA (.360).

It helps that they've been stellar against righties all year long. In that split, they have the sixth-best wOBA (.328), and their 106 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) ranks eighth.

The biggest reason why the Cubs' are the top stack in DFS tonight is opposing pitcher Mike Clevinger. Clevinger has been vastly outperforming his expected stats, compiling a 5.13 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) compared to his 3.55 ERA. He's also struggled mightily with walks -- something the Cubs should take advantage of considering they own the fourth-highest walk rate (9.4%) in baseball.

All in all, this just feels like a bounce-back spot for the home Cubbies. They have the highest implied team total (6.05) on the slate, and their offense should thrive in an opportune matchup with the wind blowing out at Wrigley.

Christopher Morel 2+ Total Bases (+110)

Christopher Morel has struggled this month, batting just .130 and collecting only five extra-base hits in 13 games. With three hitless games in his last four appearances, he's firmly in a cold stretch.

That said, I like him to break out of his slump in a big way tonight.

Morel should feast against Clevinger, as he's posted a strong .365 wOBA against righties this season. Clevinger's down strikeout numbers (19.0%) should help mitigate the free-swinging Morel (32.8% against righties), but it's the pitch mix that's really intriguing for Chicago's young slugger.

Clevinger relies heavily on the slider, and its 27.6% usage rate is second only to his four-seamer. That bodes well for Morel, who has posted the sixth-best run value against sliders (9) this season, per Statcast. He's additionally registered an absurd .547 wOBA and .881 SLG against the pitch -- both the best mark in the league among hitters with 200 sliders seen.

Morel is a constant threat to go yard when he gets the ball in the air (24.7% HR/FB rate). Considering Clevinger allows the fifth-highest fly-ball rate (51.5%), Morel could check off this prop with a single swing of the bat.

Luis Robert To Record an RBI (+100)

Luis Robert came through for us in a big way yesterday, collecting five total bases thanks to blasting a seventh-inning home run.

We're back in on him tonight, this time to record an RBI.

While the White Sox aren't favored, they are still in a decent spot to score some runs. They have an implied team total of 4.98, and despite how sharp Javier Assad has looked, the matchup is there.

Against righties, Robert owns a strong .364 wOBA while his .300 ISO ranks eighth in that split.

Assad, meanwhile, has expected stats that aren't horrible but can be taken advantage of by elite hitters. Notably, his 4.82 SIERA and 4.53 xERA open the door for some runs from the south siders.

Robert will likely be the one driving in those runs. He leads the White Sox with 66 RBI (in 114 games) and showed last night that he doesn't need any help from his teammates.

Betting RBIs is tricky and we aren't getting a ton of value here at +100. However, Robert is one of the best all-around hitters in the sport, and with the wind blowing out at Wrigley, he's got a number of ways to check this prop off.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.