{"id":702447,"date":"2026-05-18T19:03:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T19:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/702447\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T19:03:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T19:03:25","slug":"clean-laundry-mariners-vs-white-sox-series-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/702447\/","title":{"rendered":"Clean Laundry: Mariners vs. White Sox Series Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Great news: Gavin Sheets<\/a> is not (any longer) on the White Sox. He can\u2019t hurt you anymore.<\/p>\n

Bad news: If you\u2019re reading this, you\u2019re probably going to be watching some more Mariners<\/a> baseball.<\/p>\n

If you told me in January that the Mariners would be one game out of the Wild Card and just two games back of the division in mid-May, I would have been a little disappointed but still feeling pretty decent. It has, instead, been a remarkable case of horrific process and exceptionally weird results. There has been very little pleasure in this season and the most consistent thing they have to offer is their baffling inconsistency. Fresh off a truly brutal sweep at the hands of their most fearsome rivals, Seattle<\/a> welcomes the plucky White Sox into T-Mobile Park. The chance to rise to .500 will have to wait, but as we\u2019ve learned over these past 50 years, there is always the possibility of new horrors.<\/p>\n

Game<\/p>\n

Time<\/p>\n

Mariners Starter<\/p>\n

White Sox Starter<\/p>\n

Mariners Win%<\/p>\n

White Sox Win%<\/p>\n

Game 1<\/p>\n

Monday, May 18 | 6:40 pm<\/p>\n

RHP Bryan<\/a> Woo<\/p>\n

LHP Noah Schultz<\/p>\n

65.1%<\/p>\n

34.9%<\/p>\n

Game 2<\/p>\n

Tuesday, May 19 | 6:40 pm<\/p>\n

RHP Luis Castillo<\/a> \/ RHP Bryce Miller<\/a><\/p>\n

LHP Anthony Kay<\/a><\/p>\n

61.3%<\/p>\n

38.7%<\/p>\n

Game 3<\/p>\n

Wednesday, May 20 | 1:10 pm<\/p>\n

RHP Emerson<\/a> Hancock<\/p>\n

RHP Sean Burke<\/a><\/p>\n

59.7%<\/p>\n

40.3%<\/p>\n

Overview<\/p>\n

White Sox<\/p>\n

Mariners<\/p>\n

Edge<\/p>\n

Batting (wRC+)<\/p>\n

107 (3rd in AL)<\/p>\n

104 (4th in AL)<\/p>\n

White Sox<\/p>\n

Fielding (FRV)<\/p>\n

3 (5th)<\/p>\n

-13 (14th)<\/p>\n

White Sox<\/p>\n

Starting Pitching (FIP-)<\/p>\n

102 (11th)<\/p>\n

98 (9th)<\/p>\n

Mariners<\/p>\n

Bullpen (FIP-)<\/p>\n

107 (12th)<\/p>\n

87 (2nd)<\/p>\n

Mariners<\/p>\n

These are not your 2025 White Sox. Nor your 2024 White Sox. Nor your 2023 White Sox. Would you call them \u201cgood\u201d? Well, that\u2019s entirely up to you. But they do have higher upside and much more interest than they have for the vast majority of this decade. You saw that when they wriggled their way into a series win against the M\u2019s barely a week and a half ago. They\u2019re coming off of a walk-off win against the Cubs to secure the Windy Winsome Cup or whatever they pitched the Chicago rivalry to be called (it\u2019s the Crosstown Classic), are one game back in their division and would be leading in the West. Something, something, no religion.<\/p>\n

Player<\/p>\n

Position<\/p>\n

Bats<\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

K%<\/p>\n

BB%<\/p>\n

ISO<\/p>\n

wRC+<\/p>\n

Sam Antonacci<\/p>\n

LF<\/p>\n

L<\/p>\n

109<\/p>\n

12.8%<\/p>\n

6.4%<\/p>\n

0.132<\/p>\n

130<\/p>\n

Munetaka Murakami<\/p>\n

1B<\/p>\n

L<\/p>\n

199<\/p>\n

33.2%<\/p>\n

18.1%<\/p>\n

0.327<\/p>\n

155<\/p>\n

Miguel Vargas<\/a><\/p>\n

3B<\/p>\n

R<\/p>\n

198<\/p>\n

16.2%<\/p>\n

15.2%<\/p>\n

0.259<\/p>\n

146<\/p>\n

Colson Montgomery<\/a><\/p>\n

SS<\/p>\n

L<\/p>\n

188<\/p>\n

28.7%<\/p>\n

9.0%<\/p>\n

0.287<\/p>\n

136<\/p>\n

Chase Meidroth<\/a><\/p>\n

2B<\/p>\n

R<\/p>\n

189<\/p>\n

23.3%<\/p>\n

10.1%<\/p>\n

0.110<\/p>\n

101<\/p>\n

Andrew Benintendi<\/a><\/p>\n

DH<\/p>\n

L<\/p>\n

146<\/p>\n

28.8%<\/p>\n

7.5%<\/p>\n

0.153<\/p>\n

92<\/p>\n

Jarred Kelenic<\/a><\/p>\n

RF<\/p>\n

L<\/p>\n

44<\/p>\n

27.3%<\/p>\n

11.4%<\/p>\n

0.103<\/p>\n

88<\/p>\n

Tristan Peters<\/a><\/p>\n

CF<\/p>\n

L<\/p>\n

118<\/p>\n

22.0%<\/p>\n

7.6%<\/p>\n

0.086<\/p>\n

90<\/p>\n

Drew Romo<\/a><\/p>\n

C<\/p>\n

S<\/p>\n

47<\/p>\n

21.3%<\/p>\n

17.0%<\/p>\n

0.368<\/p>\n

147<\/p>\n

There\u2019s Munetaka Murakami, of course. Transcendent Surf\u2019s Up penguin that he is. Their 2021 first rounder, Colson Montgomery has been playing like how you\u2019d hope a first rounder would. Miguel Vargas has found his stride and may be the platonic ideal of the White Sox aesthetic. Sam Antonacci is running with that Team Italy energy and is on base constantamente. Tristan Peters is having a career year (it\u2019s all relative), Andrew Benintendi is there for a millennial jump scare, and I will not address Chase Meidroth, because it\u2019s important to have a for-no-good-reason nemesis.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

As you\u2019ll see below, it\u2019s the offense that continues to be a primary driver, and drive they will. I\u2019m just hoping they don\u2019t run over Seattle\u2019s bedraggled pitching corps.<\/p>\n

Probable Pitchers<\/p>\n

Updated Stuff+ Explainer<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Pitcher<\/p>\n

IP<\/p>\n

K%<\/p>\n

BB%<\/p>\n

HR\/FB%<\/p>\n

GB%<\/p>\n

ERA<\/p>\n

FIP<\/p>\n

Noah Schultz<\/p>\n

29.1<\/p>\n

20.8%<\/p>\n

16.8%<\/p>\n

5.9%<\/p>\n

35.1%<\/p>\n

4.91<\/p>\n

4.36<\/p>\n

Bryan Woo<\/p>\n

53<\/p>\n

22.3%<\/p>\n

4.7%<\/p>\n

7.5%<\/p>\n

30.3%<\/p>\n

3.91<\/p>\n

3.47<\/p>\n

Pitch<\/p>\n

Usage vRHB<\/p>\n

Usage vLHB<\/p>\n

Velocity<\/p>\n

Stuff+<\/p>\n

Whiff+<\/p>\n

BIP+<\/p>\n

xwOBA<\/p>\n

Four-seam<\/p>\n

38.7%<\/p>\n

21.7%<\/p>\n

95.4<\/p>\n

96<\/p>\n

122<\/p>\n

132<\/p>\n

0.317<\/p>\n

Sinker<\/p>\n

28.7%<\/p>\n

52.2%<\/p>\n

95.3<\/p>\n

82<\/p>\n

68<\/p>\n

121<\/p>\n

0.351<\/p>\n

Cutter<\/p>\n

21.0%<\/p>\n

26.1%<\/p>\n

89.5<\/p>\n

101<\/p>\n

Changeup<\/p>\n

11.6%<\/p>\n

0.0%<\/p>\n

89.7<\/p>\n

82<\/p>\n

Sweeper<\/p>\n

26.8%<\/p>\n

63.0%<\/p>\n

82.9<\/p>\n

116<\/p>\n

98<\/p>\n

94<\/p>\n

0.341<\/p>\n

Noah Schultz entered the season as the White Sox top pitching prospect. The organization had handled him pretty carefully after drafting him out of high school in the first round of the 2022 draft. He\u2019s also dealt with shoulder, forearm, and knee injuries over the last few years that have stunted his development a bit. The scouting report is impressive, however. He throws from a low slot and gets a ton of horizontal movement on all of his pitches. That doesn\u2019t help his fastball, which grades out merely average, but his sweeper has flashed plus plus potential. All those injuries have taken a toll on his ability to command his repertoire, but the raw stuff looks promising and he\u2019s got a very high ceiling if he can put everything together.<\/p>\n

Pitcher<\/p>\n

IP<\/p>\n

K%<\/p>\n

BB%<\/p>\n

HR\/FB%<\/p>\n

GB%<\/p>\n

ERA<\/p>\n

FIP<\/p>\n

Anthony Kay<\/p>\n

41<\/p>\n

15.3%<\/p>\n

10.0%<\/p>\n

12.5%<\/p>\n

41.4%<\/p>\n

4.61<\/p>\n

5.49<\/p>\n

Luis Castillo<\/p>\n

44<\/p>\n

21.3%<\/p>\n

7.9%<\/p>\n

12.3%<\/p>\n

34.1%<\/p>\n

6.34<\/p>\n

4.57<\/p>\n

Pitch<\/p>\n

Usage vRHB<\/p>\n

Usage vLHB<\/p>\n

Velocity<\/p>\n

Stuff+<\/p>\n

Whiff+<\/p>\n

BIP+<\/p>\n

xwOBA<\/p>\n

Four-seam<\/p>\n

35.3%<\/p>\n

29.4%<\/p>\n

95.7<\/p>\n

91<\/p>\n

64<\/p>\n

87<\/p>\n

0.467<\/p>\n

Sinker<\/p>\n

14.9%<\/p>\n

47.9%<\/p>\n

95.0<\/p>\n

112<\/p>\n

137<\/p>\n

142<\/p>\n

0.377<\/p>\n

Cutter<\/p>\n

23.7%<\/p>\n

21.0%<\/p>\n

91.0<\/p>\n

99<\/p>\n

77<\/p>\n

142<\/p>\n

0.425<\/p>\n

Changeup<\/p>\n

23.7%<\/p>\n

0.0%<\/p>\n

85.8<\/p>\n

111<\/p>\n

85<\/p>\n

104<\/p>\n

0.248<\/p>\n

Slider<\/p>\n

2.4%<\/p>\n

1.7%<\/p>\n

84.4<\/p>\n

109<\/p>\n

Sweeper<\/p>\n

19.8%<\/p>\n

52.1%<\/p>\n

82.6<\/p>\n

109<\/p>\n

84<\/p>\n

86<\/p>\n

0.330<\/p>\n

From a previous series preview:<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

After a few years of riding the Triple-A shuttle for the Blue Jays, Anthony Kay signed a two-year deal with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of NBP. He excelled in Japan and returned to the US this offseason, signing a two-year deal with Chicago. He developed a sinker and a sweeper overseas, giving him a much deeper repertoire to keep batters off balance. Unfortunately, that revamped arsenal hasn\u2019t helped him find much success against batters this year. The stuff models really like his sinker and a few of his secondary pitches, but he\u2019s throwing a thoroughly mediocre four-seam fastball 30% of the time right now. That pitch is getting absolutely crushed. He simply isn\u2019t working deep enough into counts to properly utilize his secondary pitches, his strike out rate has cratered to just 14.0%, and his ERA and FIP are both approaching six.<\/p>\n

The Mariners haven\u2019t officially announced their starter for Tuesday\u2019s game, but it\u2019s expected that Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller will combine to pitch the majority of the game in piggyback fashion. I suspect Castillo will be given the \u201cstart\u201d and work through the lineup once before handing things off to Miller.<\/p>\n

Pitcher<\/p>\n

IP<\/p>\n

K%<\/p>\n

BB%<\/p>\n

HR\/FB%<\/p>\n

GB%<\/p>\n

ERA<\/p>\n

FIP<\/p>\n

Sean Burke<\/p>\n

48.1<\/p>\n

20.3%<\/p>\n

5.4%<\/p>\n

8.3%<\/p>\n

36.8%<\/p>\n

4.10<\/p>\n

3.61<\/p>\n

Emerson Hancock<\/p>\n

53.2<\/p>\n

27.1%<\/p>\n

4.8%<\/p>\n

14.5%<\/p>\n

44.6%<\/p>\n

3.02<\/p>\n

3.62<\/p>\n

Pitch<\/p>\n

Usage vRHB<\/p>\n

Usage vLHB<\/p>\n

Velocity<\/p>\n

Stuff+<\/p>\n

Whiff+<\/p>\n

BIP+<\/p>\n

xwOBA<\/p>\n

Four-seam<\/p>\n

29.9%<\/p>\n

43.1%<\/p>\n

94.2<\/p>\n

112<\/p>\n

83<\/p>\n

101<\/p>\n

0.322<\/p>\n

Sinker<\/p>\n

21.6%<\/p>\n

9.3%<\/p>\n

94.3<\/p>\n

89<\/p>\n

48<\/p>\n

170<\/p>\n

0.315<\/p>\n

Cutter<\/p>\n

2.1%<\/p>\n

6.9%<\/p>\n

90.0<\/p>\n

86<\/p>\n

Changeup<\/p>\n

0.3%<\/p>\n

5.8%<\/p>\n

85.8<\/p>\n

87<\/p>\n

Curveball<\/p>\n

14.9%<\/p>\n

29.4%<\/p>\n

79.4<\/p>\n

87<\/p>\n

67<\/p>\n

108<\/p>\n

0.298<\/p>\n

Slider<\/p>\n

31.1%<\/p>\n

5.4%<\/p>\n

86.8<\/p>\n

90<\/p>\n

96<\/p>\n

105<\/p>\n

0.299<\/p>\n

From a previous series preview:<\/p>\n

Sean Burke showed some flashes of promise in his first full season in the big leagues last year. His 4.22 ERA was perfectly acceptable for a rebuilding Chicago club, though his 4.92 FIP wasn\u2019t nearly as encouraging. Still, there was a stretch in May and June where he ran a 3.33 ERA and a 4.06 FIP across nine starts. Things are looking up for Burke this year. He\u2019s dramatically improved his command and cut his walk rate by more than half, down to 5.1%. He doesn\u2019t strike out that many guys, but simply reducing the amount of traffic on the bases has helped him dramatically improve his topline results.<\/p>\n

The Big Picture:<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

W-L<\/p>\n

W%<\/p>\n

Games Behind<\/p>\n

Run Diff<\/p>\n

Recent Form<\/p>\n

Athletics<\/p>\n

23-23<\/p>\n

0.500<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

-13<\/p>\n

W-L-W-L-L<\/p>\n

Rangers<\/p>\n

22-24<\/p>\n

0.478<\/p>\n

1.0<\/p>\n

+3<\/p>\n

W-W-L-L-W<\/p>\n

Mariners<\/a><\/p>\n

22-26<\/p>\n

0.458<\/p>\n

2.0<\/p>\n

+6<\/p>\n

L-W-L-L-L<\/p>\n

Astros<\/a><\/p>\n

19-29<\/p>\n

0.396<\/p>\n

5.0<\/p>\n

-51<\/p>\n

W-L-W-W-L<\/p>\n

Angels<\/p>\n

16-31<\/p>\n

0.340<\/p>\n

7.5<\/p>\n

-60<\/p>\n

L-L-L-L-L<\/p>\n

The Mariners didn\u2019t fall too far behind the A\u2019s and the Rangers because those two teams lost their rivalry weekend series too. Nothing really changed in the AL West standings beyond Texas<\/a> gaining a single game to jump over the Mariners into second place. The Athletics<\/a> will head to Anaheim to face the miserable Angels this week while the Rangers head to Colorado<\/a> to face the Rockies. The Astros will look to build off their series win against their cross-state rival in a series against the Twins in Minnesota<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Great news: Gavin Sheets is not (any longer) on the White Sox. He can\u2019t hurt you anymore. Bad…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":702448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2379],"tags":[1000,10945,42,5,5340,1996,1001,138,24,49,2561,167,10448,14899,3956,1530,1043,331,620,4154,822,4,73,2003,619,1567,1949,4989,30019,396,2562],"class_list":{"0":"post-702447","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-white-sox","8":"tag-andrew-benintendi","9":"tag-anthony-kay","10":"tag-astros","11":"tag-baseball","12":"tag-bryan","13":"tag-bryce-miller","14":"tag-chase-meidroth","15":"tag-chicago","16":"tag-chicago-cubs","17":"tag-chicago-white-sox","18":"tag-chicagowhitesox","19":"tag-colorado","20":"tag-colson-montgomery","21":"tag-drew-romo","22":"tag-emerson","23":"tag-gavin-sheets","24":"tag-jarred-kelenic","25":"tag-luis-castillo","26":"tag-mariners","27":"tag-miguel-vargas","28":"tag-minnesota","29":"tag-mlb","30":"tag-munetaka-murakami","31":"tag-sean-burke","32":"tag-seattle","33":"tag-texas","34":"tag-the-athletics","35":"tag-the-mariners","36":"tag-tristan-peters","37":"tag-white-sox","38":"tag-whitesox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116597136027832688","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=702447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}