By Stephen Nover
White Sox plus $1.69 at Phillies
Know this about the White Sox and Ivan Nova. Both are bad.
However.
The White Sox have a winning record against lefthanded starting pitching. Philadelphia is starting southpaw Jason Vargas, who isn’t about to be confused with Sandy Koufax.
Nova actually was decent in July going 3-2 with a 3.16 ERA. Nova has been excellent during his past two starts giving up two earned runs in 15 innings against the Marlins and Twins, who lead the majors in homers and are third in runs scored. Nova beat Minnesota, 5-1, this past Saturday.
Nova is familar with the Phillies having pitched for the Pirates from 2016 through last season. Nova owns a 2-1 mark with a 2.53 ERA in five appearances versus Philadelphia.
So, at this plus price, the White Sox with Nova are worth a shot.
Vargas is 36 and pitching for his sixth different big league team. His fastball is rumored to be able to break glass. But that’s just a rumor. He’s a bottom-of-the-rotation starter.
The White Sox can attack Vargas with several respectable righthanded power hitters – Jose Abreu, Tim Anderson and James McCann – all of whom have hit at least 11 homers. Citizens Bank Park is an excellent hitter’s park and the wind is blowing out to left at 8-10 mph.
(Editor’s note: If you are interested in Stephen Nover’s sports service please email him at scriber26@gmail.com or message him via Twitter. Stephen finished No. 1 this past football season in both NFL and college football at Vegas Insider.)
