Finally, baseball is back. On Monday, two legendary franchises in the Oakland Athletics and the Chicago White Sox will play the first game of their respective schedules against each other in Oakland Coliseum. Oakland will send ace Sonny Gray to the mound against a White Sox lineup that added more offense to the mix this offseason. Chicago counters with star pitcher Chris Sale.
Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this Opening Day matchup and while you’re at it, you can check out our previews of Washington vs. Atlanta and Seattle vs. Texas.
After finishing fourth in the AL Central division last year, the Chicago White Sox look to bounce back strong as they seek their first playoff appearance in eight years. The White Sox are pegged at +700 to win the AL Central this season.
Chicago’s first assignment this season is a matchup with the Oakland Athletics. Starting for the White Sox in this Opening Day showdown is Chris Sale. The White Sox ace will be making his third career Opening Day start as he looks to improve on his 2-0 slate in such games. Sale exceeded expectations last year, setting a single-season franchise record with 274 strikeouts, the highest mark in the American League.
Sale will need all the help he can get, though, if he is to preserve his unbeaten Opening Day record as he will face one of the best pitchers in the world today in Sonny Gray. Fortunately for Sale, the White Sox have upgraded a batting lineup that ranked last in the American League in runs scored and OPS last season. Chicago boosted its ranks by adding veterans Todd Frazier, Brett Lawrie, Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro this past offseason. Frazier’s the one to watch among these additions as he hit a career-high 35 home runs for Cincinnati last year.
Interestingly, though, Frazier has yet to face Gray in his career. The onus then is on Melky Cabrera and Jose Abreu to lead the charge for the White Sox tonight. Cabrera has two hits in four at-bats against Gray while Abreu is 2-of-6 with one homer and four RBIs against the right-hander.
The White Sox are 4-0 in their last four road games against the A’s.
To say that the Oakland Athletics had a disappointing 2015 season would be a severe understatement. The A’s finished dead-last in the AL West last year with a woeful 68-94 slate. That record marked a 20-game dip from the previous year for the Athletics. That is their first 90-loss campaign in 18 years under general manager Billy Beane and only their third last-place finish. There’s nowhere to go but up for the A’s who will once again lean on their pitching staff to turn their season around.
Leading Oakland’s rotation this year is Sonny Gray. The right-hander finished the 2015 season with a 14-7 record and a 2.73 ERA in 31 starts. His pitching exploits helped him finish third in the American League Cy Young Award voting last year. Gray’s start tonight against the White Sox will be his third consecutive Opening Day appearance.
Gray can’t do it all alone, though, and he needs the Oakland batters to contribute tonight as well. One guy who’s expected to have a huge Opening Night is veteran Billy Butler. He is hitting .366 off Chris Sale with three homers and 10 RBIs. Jed Lowrie’s another player who has had some success against Sale with the second baseman hitting .385 against the Chicago ace.
The total has gone over in Oakland’s last seven home games.
