Many baseball bettors choose to sit and watch for the first couple weeks or so of a new baseball betting season, trying to get a read on what changed and what didn’t over the the winter. But not us; we’re jumping right in with some Opening Day betting action, starting with this American League match-up in Houston.

Lefty Framber Valdez gets the Opening Day call here for the defending World Series champs against Dylan Cease for the White Sox.

How are we playing this game with our free baseball betting pick?

MLB Betting Odds

The Opening Day baseball betting lines opened Houston at around -145, with an over/under of 7.5. Early betting action then goosed the Astros 20 cents to -165.

White Sox-Astros MLB Betting Preview

Chicago played 81-81 last year and missed the playoffs, after winning the AL Central in 2021. The White Sox also played well under their season wins over/under of 91.5.

Over the off-season Chicago lost probably its most productive stick over recent seasons, 1B Jose Abreu, who signed with Houston.

Heading into this season the White Sox are lined at +275 to win the AL Central, +1800 to win the AL pennant and +4000 to win the World Series, playing against a wins O/U of 82.5.

Houston, meanwhile, won 106 games last year, the AL West again, the American League pennant again, and then the World Series, again. The Astros also rolled over their season wins O/U, which was 92.5.

Over the off-season Houston lost P Justin Verlander but picked up a nice stick in Abreu.

Heading into this season the Astros are lined at -180 to win the AL West, +300 to win the American League and +600 to win the World Series, playing against a wins O/U of 96, which is tied with the Dodgers for the highest total in Baseball.

Houston took the season series from Chicago last year four games to three.
On the injury front the Astros are starting this season without IF Jose Altuve, who suffered a broken thumb while playing in the World Baseball Classic a couple weeks ago.

Thursday’s Pitching Match-Up

Valdez hit an impressive 24/31 on quality starts last season while fashioning a 2.82 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He also walked 67 against 194 strikeouts.

Houston played a solid 22-9 with Valdez last year.

Over two starts against the White Sox last season Valdez allowed five runs and 15 hits through 13 innings, with three walks and 10 strikeouts. The Astros won both those games.

Cease hit 16/32 on quality starts last year and came close a bunch of times, too. He also posted a 2.20 ERA, a 1.11 WHIP, walked 78 and whiffed 227.

Chicago played 20-12 with Cease last season and easily could have been three or four games better than that.

In his one start against Houston last year Cease allowed three runs and six hits through five frames of a 4-3 White Sox win.

Splits With the Sticks

Chic go batted .271 against left-handed pitching last season, with a .337 team OBP and a .430 team slugging percentage. Numbers like those led us to rank this line-up among the top half-dozen or so in Baseball in this split. However, they did lose Abreu, and that won’t help.

Houston slashed .242/.315/.411 against right-handed pitching last season.

The Bullpens

The White Sox bullpen put up a 4.00 ERA last season, along with a 1.30 WHIP and a 2.68 K/BB ratio.

The Astros pen posted a 2.80 ERA last year, which led Baseball, a 1.14 WHIP and a 3.06 K/BB ratio. Numbers like those led us to rank this unit among the top half-dozen bullpens in the MLB.

MLB Betting Trends

Chicago played 44-37 on the road last season but 17-20 against left-handed starters.

Houston played 55-26 at home and 64-44 against right-handed starters.

Totals Report

The Unders played 81-72 in White Sox games last season.

The Unders played a lopsided 93-61 in Astros games last season.

The Unders played 47-30 at Minute Maid Park last season.