MLB

MLB Betting Guide for Thursday 7/27/23: Side With the Under in an AL Central Matchup

Thomas Vecchio  —  @Tom_Vecchio1 Jul 27th, 2023

Baseball has got you covered if you want a large inventory of options to bet.

From moneylines to run totals to first-five-inning wagers, we have plenty of ways to bet the long, arduous MLB schedule nearly every day. Daily outlooks can be vastly different due to starting pitchers, and a wealth of advanced stats can let us know an individual pitcher, a bullpen, or a team is due for positive -- or negative -- regression.

With that said, which MLB betting 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 information.

Cleveland Guardians at Chicago White Sox

Under 8.5 (-114)

Today's smaller MLB slate brings us limited betting options, but one clear spot to target is tonight's Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox game

This is a rather interesting matchup because we have two teams that are very similar in both their pitchers on the mound tonight and their overall offenses.

The White Sox will have Dylan Cease on the bump tonight, who comes in with a 28.0% strikeout rate, 4.04 ERA, 3.93 skill-interactive ERA (SIERA), and 49.8% medium-contact rate. He's been among the more consistent pitchers in the league lately, allowing three earned runs or fewer in 8 of his last 10 starts.

The Guardians struggle versus right-handed pitchers this season with a 95 wRC+ (20th), .308 wOBA (21st), .131 ISO (29th), and 25.6% hard-contact rate (30th). They are seriously lacking power, and with Cease's skillset on the mound, it should be another one of his starts where he limits the damage.

For Cleveland, they will have Tanner Bibee throwing for them, a promising young pitcher. He's a rookie and has just 15 starts under his belt but has impressed to this point. Bibee is boasting a 3.04 ERA, 3.24 xERA, 4.19 SIERA, 0.76 HR/9, 24.6% strikeout rate, and 57.5% medium-contact rate. This is pretty darn solid for a rookie, and it has helped him allow three earned runs or fewer in 13 of his 15 starts.

When it comes to the White Sox's offense, it's much of the same as we saw with Cleveland. The White Sox have an 83 wRC+ (29th), .292 wOBA (27th), .151 ISO (21st), and 30.0% hard-contact rate (26th) versus righties.

Both teams have solid starters, both teams lack power, and both teams aren't consistent on offense. All of this points to under 8.5 runs on the total tonight.