The Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago White Sox play out the rubber match of their weekend series on Sunday.
The pregame narrative: Toronto and Chicago have exchanged 7-1 beatdowns to open this series. The former sends Chris Bassitt out on Sunday while the latter rolls with Adrian Houser. Can Toronto earn a win and keep pace with its AL East rivals?
Check out my Blue Jays picks vs. the White Sox for June 22, featuring Alejandro Kirk and Chris Bassitt.
Blue Jays picks vs. White Sox
Best Bet: Kirk over 1.5 hits (+210)
Kirk continues to be a constant for Toronto.
The Blue Jays catcher recorded a hit in Saturday’s victory over Chicago, marking the 18th time in 24 games that he registered a knock.
This wager requires Kirk to deliver a pair of hits, however, and there’s plenty of reason to believe he can do just that.
Firstly, Kirk has notched two-plus hits in five of his last 10 games. This kind of success at the plate is nothing new, as he’s hitting .311 on the season.
Secondly, Houser has been allowing plenty of contact in June. Houser has surrendered 20 hits in 17.1 innings pitched across three starts this month and owns a 44th percentile expected batting average (.253).
Lastly, Kirk has had some serious success against Houser in their limited shared plate appearances. Expect him to stay hot in a plus matchup.
Key stat: Kirk has recorded a hit in all six of his plate appearances versus Houser.
Quick pick
Bassitt over 5.5 strikeouts (-118): Bassitt isn’t an elite strikeout arm by any means, but an intriguing matchup and some strong recent results make this market a quality target.
The White Sox are unsurprisingly one of the worst strikeout teams in MLB. They rank 22nd in team strikeouts per game (8.71), and are even worse on the road.
Chicago averages the sixth-most strikeouts per game as a visitor this season (9.35).
Bassitt’s 51st percentile strikeout rate isn’t going to blow anybody away, but he has been clearing this total with some regularity lately.
The veteran hurler has totalled six-plus strikeouts in five of his last eight starts.
He’s been even better at racking up strikeouts at home. Bassitt has a 9.8 Ks per nine rate at home compared to a 7.4 Ks per nine rate on the road.
For comparison, Bassitt has topped this mark in six of his eight starts at Rogers Centre and two of his seven outings anywhere else.
Blue Jays picks made at 9:30 a.m. ET on 06/22/2025.
Stevie’s an avid NFL, NHL, and tennis bettor who has no problem talking himself into the underdog. His previous stops include Yahoo! Sports Canada and Toronto Metropolitan University, where he received a degree in Sport Media.