The Chicago White Sox are absolutely terrible this season, but one potentially important piece of the team’s rotation going forward will be on display Tuesday when Drew Thorpe makes his big-league debut in Seattle. We look at that matchup and one other intriguing game early this week.

Top MLB Betting Picks of the Week (June 10th, 2024)

The @Phillies remain atop of this week's Power Rankings.

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Chicago White Sox vs. Seattle Mariners

• When: Tuesday, June 11th, 2024, 9:40 PM ET
• Where: T-Mobile Park, Seattle, WA
• TV: NBCSCH, RSNW, MLBN
• Radio: WLS-AM 890 (White Sox) // Seattle Sports 710 AM (Mariners)
• Live Stream: MLB.tv
• MLB Betting Odds: TBA

The Chicago White Sox are in true tank mode this season, even though they are not allowed to win the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft in the lottery for reasons that are too complicated to explain here. The best the White Sox can do is pick 10th next year in Round 1.

First-year GM Chris Getz kick-started the overhaul this past offseason in trading ace right-hander Dylan Cease to the San Diego Padres for a group of prospects led by starting pitcher Drew Thorpe – whom the Padres had acquired earlier this offseason from the New York Yankees in the Juan Soto trade. Thorpe will make his White Sox and big-league debut on Tuesday in Seattle.

Thorpe, 23, was New York’s second-round pick in the 2022 draft, and he led the minors with 182 strikeouts in 2023. This season, Thorpe is 7-1 with a 1.35 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and .172 opponent average through his first 11 starts with Double-A Birmingham in Chicago’s system. Including the five starts at Double-A that Thorpe made in 2023 in the Yankees’ system, the righty is 11-1 with a 1.39 ERA across 16 career starts at that level. His change up is a 70-grade pitch, considered one of the best in the minors.

Thorpe is no stranger to getting results. He was a consensus All-American at Cal Poly and finished second in NCAA Division I in strikeouts before the Yankees made him a second-round pick two years ago. White Sox apparently decided that Thorpe didn’t have to make a stop in Triple-A on his way to the Show. He is ranked as the team’s No. 3 overall prospect and No. 54 overall in the majors.

“I’ve seen his last couple outings. I always watch these guys on video here,” said White Sox manager Pedro Grifol of Thorpe. “He’s a strike-thrower, he’s a competitor. He’s got a plus-plus-plus changeup. He knows how to pitch, he’s calm and has a really good demeanor. Looking forward to seeing him pitch at this level because he looks like a big leaguer.”

Even at full strength, the White Sox lineup is terrible but even worse currently with the likes of Eloy Jimenez, Tommy Pham and Andrew Benintendi on the IL. Pham will absolutely be traded by next month’s deadline, as his injury is not serious. Jimenez is set to start a rehab assignment this week. The DH was initially given a one-month return timeline when he landed on the IL on May 22 with a left hamstring strain. Benintendi is eligible to be activated on Wednesday, but might not be.

Seattle is without a key hitter as well in first baseman Ty France. He was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday with a slight hairline fracture in his right heel. France suffered his injury Friday when he was hit by a pitch in the right foot from Royals’ left-hander Daniel Lynch IV. It was the 90th time France has been hit since joining the Mariners, setting a club record. He stayed in the game and hit two doubles before getting scratched from the lineup Saturday. France is slashing .251/.329/.403 with seven home runs and 27 RBI over 237 plate appearances.

Bryan Woo (3-0) is scheduled to pitch for Seattle on Tuesday. Woo threw a season-high 85 pitches last Thursday vs. Oakland, an encouraging sign for the 24-year-old after he missed all of April with elbow inflammation and exited his first start after his IL stint with forearm tightness. The right-hander has generated four consecutive quality starts and has fired 12 straight scoreless innings, giving him a 1.07 ERA and 24:2 K:BB through 33.2 innings.

MLB Betting Pick: Mariners

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Boston Red Sox

• When: Wednesday, June 12th, 2024, 7:10 PM ET
• Where: Fenway Park, Boston, MA
• TV: NBC 10, NESN
• Radio: KWIP 94.1 FM (Phillies) // WEEI-FM 93.7 (Red Sox)
• Live Stream: MLB.tv
• MLB Betting Odds: TBA

It wouldn’t be a total shock if the Phillies went into a minor funk this week simply as they had to travel back from London on Sunday night after splitting two games there over the weekend against the New York Mets. It was MLB’s third trip to London in the past five years. There’s another series planned for 2026. A proposed series in Paris for next summer was shelved.

“I’d do it every year if we could,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson, who visited a Philly-themed bar while there. “It was a great experience.”

The Phillies remain without one of the sport’s best shortstops in All-Star Trea Turner, and he’s not going to be activated off the injured list in time for Wednesday but is getting close. There are more hurdles to clear before the team can activate him, but there is optimism he can finish his recovery without a setback or a rehab assignment. Turner has not played since May 3, when he strained his left hamstring. Turner and Thomson said he is running at about 75-80 percent of full speed, which is where he was in Colorado late last month when he suffered a setback.

“I’m in the same place, but a little better,” Turner said. “In Denver, I was really tight. I felt like I could still feel my injury, where I injured it. Now it’s not that. I’m at that same threshold, running with the same intensity, but the feelings are different, which is a good thing. I feel more comfortable doing stuff now than I did then. Then, I felt like I was pushing through certain things. It’s probably why I had that little setback.”

Turner is unlikely to go on a rehab assignment before the Phillies activate him from the IL, according to Thomson and Turner. (Turner has the right to refuse an assignment.) Bryce Harper chose not to go on a rehab assignment last year, when he missed the beginning of the season following Tommy John surgery.

Boston’s best hitter is All-Star third baseman Rafael Devers, and he should be good to go for this series after being lifted in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 6-1 loss to the White Sox after Manager Alex Cora said that Devers’ left knee was bothering him when he was getting ready to swing in the batter’s box. Devers then got Sunday off as the Sox opted to err on the side of caution after he had previously dealt with a bone bruise in the same knee in April that cost him five starts. Devers is slashing .284/.375/.557 with a .932 OPS and 13 homers in 201 at-bats this year.

The Phillies are scheduled to start lefty Cristopher Sanchez (3-3) on Wednesday. Sanchez allowed one run on four hits and a walk over six innings in a no-decision against the Brewers last Tuesday. He struck out three. Sanchez has now held opponents to two runs or fewer in five of his past six outings and one or fewer in seven of his last 10. His ERA is down to 2.71 with a 1.34 WHIP and 59:21 K:BB across 12 starts (66.1 innings).

Nick Pivetta (3-4) is scheduled for Boston. He earned the win last Wednesday over Atlanta, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out nine over seven scoreless innings. Pivetta now has nine strikeouts in consecutive starts, while punching out eight or more in four of his last five outings. The 31-year-old right-hander lowered his ERA to 3.40 with a 0.94 WHIP and 51:9 K:BB across eight starts (42.1 innings). Pivetta spent the first four years of his career (2017-20) in Philadelphia.

MLB Betting Pick: Red Sox

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