The Chicago White Sox (6-2) are tied for the best record in baseball and have a chance to complete a three-game sweep over the Tampa Bay Rays (4-5) on Sunday afternoon.
The Rays, on the other hand, are looking very unlike a team that was in the World Series just two years ago, having lost three of four against the rebuilding Athletics prior to losing the first two games of this series with the White Sox. Can the Rays set things straight on Sunday or will the White Sox bring out the brooms?
Continue reading for free MLB betting picks and predictions for the Rays vs White Sox matchup on Sunday, April 17th.
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Rays vs White Sox odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
The game opened as a straight pick'em with both teams at the same odds and has largely stayed at that spot by this writing. The total opened at 8.5 and remains at that number on Sunday morning.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full MLB odds before placing your bets.
Rays vs White Sox predictions
Picks made on 4/17/2022 at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Rays vs White Sox game info
• Location: Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago, IL
• Date: Sunday, April 17, 2022
• First pitch: 2:10 p.m. ET
• TV: Bally Sports, NBCS-CHI
Rays vs White Sox betting preview
Starting pitchers
J.P. Feyereisen (0-0, 0.00 ERA): Feyereisen is a relief pitcher and will serve as the Rays "opener" on Sunday. He has appeared in four games thus far and has yet to allow an earned run or walk while surrendering just two hits. Feyereisen should be expected to pitch just one inning.
Vince Velasquez (0-0, 2.25 ERA): Velasquez has been an average starter at best over his seven-year career, largely serving as a middle-of-the-rotation innings eater with a career 4.93 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. In his first outing of the season, he held the Mariners to just one earned run in four innings pitched.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
Rays: Shane Baz SP (Out), Luis Patino P (Out), Ryan Yarbrough P (Out).
White Sox: Yoan Moncada 3B (Out), Joe Kelly RP (Out), AJ Pollock LF (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Rays played 33-11 (75%) to the Over as road underdogs last year. Find more MLB betting trends for Rays vs. White Sox.
Rays vs White Sox picks and predictions
Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.
Moneyline analysis
After years of outperforming expectations by being ahead of the rest of the league in analytics, player development, roster construction, and player evaluation, the Tampa Bay Rays have established themselves as serious contenders in recent years, particularly following their appearance in the 2020 World Series.
But following a three-game sweep over the Orioles to start the season, the Rays have fallen apart in the last week. They managed to drop three of four against the talent-strapped and rebuilding A's, and have now dropped the first two games of a three-game set against the White Sox.
They will look to salvage the series largely on the back of Tommy Romero, who will serve as the "primary" pitcher after J.P. Feyereisen opens the game. Romero, much like the Rays, is going to try to amend early mishaps. In his first appearance (his major league debut), Romero allowed three earned runs in just 1 2-3 innings pitched — thanks to the five walks he allowed.
Romero is a promising young talent in the renowned Rays developmental system who pitched to a 1.88 ERA and 39.3% strikeout rate in Double-A last year prior to moving on to Triple-A, where he managed a 3.18 ERA and 28.7% K-rate. He is the Rays' 18th-ranked prospect according to MLB.com and is unexpectedly in the majors as a result of injuries to Shane Baz (No. 1-ranked prospect), Ryan Yarbrough, and Luis Patino.
Romero found a lot of success in the minors by improving his fastball velocity from 90 MPH to as high as 94 MPH while managing good spin rates but could struggle in the majors given that his complementary pitches (curveball and changeup) are far from spectacular. If Feyereisen can set up Romero with a clean slate, however, the rookie may be able to hold his own given that the Rays will have a chance to set the table against White Sox starting pitcher Vince Velasquez.
Velasquez has been a middling starter for his entire career and is coming off a season full of red flags in his underlying metrics. He was in the bottom 3% of qualified pitchers in barrel rate and the bottom 9% in exit velocity. He also lacked command, ranking in the 13th percentile in walk rate and 16th in chase rate.
And although the Rays have failed to score more than three runs in four straight games now, Velasquez might be the exact type of pitcher they need to see to help remedy that. After all, they did rank second in the league in both runs scored and wRC+ last year.
Prediction: Rays ML (+100 at FanDuel)
Over/Under analysis
Tampa Bay played to the second-best Overs record last year at 98-68 (59%) and was even better in road games at 53-30 (64%).
The Rays are slight underdogs for Sunday's game as well and went 33-11 (75%) to the Over as road underdogs in 2021.
Velasquez saw his games go Over Sunday's total of 8.5 16 times in his 25 appearances (64%) last year across his time with the Phillies and Padres.
If we expect both Velasquez and Romero to get touched up a bit for Sunday's matchup, then only one way on the total ultimately makes sense.
Prediction: Over 8.5 (-104 at Unibet)
Best bet
Whether dealing with injuries or not, the Rays need to make things right soon if they plan to stay afloat in the playoff race, especially in the competitive AL East. With the Yankees and Red Sox still hanging around as the big-spending contenders and the emerging Blue Jays in the mix as well, there really is no margin for error, even this early in the season.
Romero may still be too young and inexperienced to be relied on this heavily to start the season, but it's merely a result of necessity and he has good enough stuff to manage a decent enough outing for Sunday.
Expect the Rays to get the bats going again and rough up Velasquez enough to avoid the sweep.
Pick: Rays ML (+100 at FanDuel)
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