Contrarian Play For White Sox Vs Nationals

White Sox vs. Nationals, 7:05 ET

I was scrolling through Twitter, or X, or whatever Elon Musk wants it to be called, lat night and saw someone comment about how tough it is to watch an NFL game by itself. Honestly, I like watching the games, but I get his point. He mentioned how RedZone is so much better and the constant action makes it more enjoyable. His next point: without sports betting or fantasy, the game isn't as enjoyable. I've said this about baseball games and tonight's between the White Sox and Nationals is certainly one that falls into that category. Either way, there is an opportunity to make money on bad teams, and that's precisely what we will do today.

The White Sox are one of the biggest embarrassments to the game of baseball. This season they had a team that supposedly only had an issue with the manager last season. They have some very talented young players, they had a guy that finished in the top 3 of Cy Young voting and so much more. This is a team that was just a few years removed from being a World Series choice for many experts. It wasn't to be and now the architect of the team has been fired as well. Tonight, they are sending out Jose Urena to the mound in hopes of winning the game. I have to imagine that they signed him so that they could just have someone eat some innings for them considering the team was going to lose the season anyway. He's made two starts for the White Sox this season. His first start was pretty solid with four innings of one run baseball. The second start was not pretty as he allowed three home runs and six earned runs over 6.1 innings. He's made seven appearances this season and his team (the Rockies and now Sox) has lost every single game.

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 30: Tim Anderson #7 of the Chicago White Sox throws off balance to first base but not in time to get Chad Pinder #18 of the Oakland Athletics during the first inning of Game Two of the American League Wild Card Round at RingCentral Coliseum on September 30, 2020 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

The Nationals are not a good squad, but they also weren't expected to be this season. However, they are a bit opposite of the White Sox. They came into the season with low, or no, expectations, and they've actually played pretty decently for what their circumstances are. They are roughly 20 games under .500, but at least they've tried to remain competitive this season. They traded away their best player at the deadline, but I expected them to trade away basically anything of value, and they hung onto more of their assets than I thought. Today, they send out Jackson Rutledge to the mound. He is a September callup making his second start of his career. In his first outing, it was... ugly. He allowed 10 hits and seven earned runs over 3.2 innings. It wasn't just the longball that did him in as he only gave up one home run. 10 hits though over 11 total outs recorded is pretty wild. He was facing the Pirates, too, so it wasn't like it was some playoff team.

Neither one of these pitchers are really worth backing, but Urena is probably the one you should have a bit more confidence in - you know he at least has the potential to produce a good game. With Rutledge, you have no idea if he will improve after the nerves from his first start (I would think it can't get much worse). The thing is, it is hard to imagine both of these offenses clicking and 9.5 is pretty high number. It seems wild when the two starters have ERA's above eight, but I'm going to take the under here and hope the hitters continue to have the lack of motivation they've shown most of the season.

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