The Toronto Blue Jays can tie their longest winning streak in a decade with a victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.
The pregame narrative: Toronto has rattled off 10 wins in a row and is favoured to take today’s matinee behind lefty Eric Lauer. Chicago counters with veteran Adrian Houser, who has been sensational and is garnering trade interest ahead of the July 31 deadline.
Check out my Blue Jays vs. White Sox predictions, featuring Addison Barger and Edgar Quero.
Blue Jays vs. White Sox predictions
Parlay: White Sox F5 +0.5 | Barger over 0.5 hits | Quero over 0.5 hits (+300)
White Sox +0.5 – first five innings (-136): Houser is on a one-year “prove it” deal with the White Sox, making just $850,000 after a horrible 2024 with the New York Mets.
And prove it he has.
The 33-year-old righty has been electric since his season debut on May 20, sporting a 1.60 ERA and 1.11 WHIP through eight starts. He’s also held opponents to a paltry .188 batting average in three starts at home.
Houser has shut out back-to-back opponents over 15.0 innings and held the Jays to two runs in 6.1 IP the start before that. Unsurprisingly, the White Sox are 3-0 against a +0.5 F5 line in those games.
Lauer has been great for Toronto as well, but I expect Houser to keep Chicago in the fight — at least through the first bit of this game.
MLB SGP legs
Barger over 0.5 hits (-225): I don’t expect Houser to throw a no-hitter, and Barger profiles as the type of guy who can record a knock.
- Barger is batting .370 in July. He has a hit in 6 of 8 games.
- The utility man has a .280/.335/.560 slash line vs. RHP (batting .211 vs. LHP).
- Houser has struggled against lefty bats, ceding a .258 batting average (.183 vs. RHBs).
Barger is worth a look anytime there’s a righty on the mound, and today is no different.
Quero over 0.5 hits (-182): On the other end of the spectrum, let’s back a player who’s destroying left-handed pitching.
Enter Chicago’s 22-year-old catcher, Quero.
He’s batting .417 against southpaws, which is more than double his batting average against righties (.191).
Quero doesn’t hit for power or strike out at a crazy-high clip. He does draw an above-average number of walks, but Lauer tends to find the zone with a 64th-percentile walk rate.
This seems like a solid addition at a reasonable price.
Blue Jays vs. White Sox predictions made at 10:45 a.m. ET on 07/09/2025.
Avery joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2022 before stepping into a full-time role soon after. He loves betting on and analyzing golf — mainly because it’s easier than actually playing — but is a fan of all sports, from the NFL to the UFC.