This midweek matchup in the Windy City is a study in mediocrity. Probable pitchers Stroman for the Cubs and Lynn for the White Sox have struggled lately. Especially Stroman who had so many fine starts in June and May. He has a 6.20 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP so far in July. He is 1-3 in his last 5 starts and has lasted an average of 4.5 innings over that stretch. He is 4-2 in his road starts which will contribute to our call for the play on this game.

Lynn has a 4.74 ERA and 1.16 WHIP for July. Not as bad as Stroman’s but not world beating either. He is 2-4 in home starts.

At the plate the mediocrity is more one sided. In the last 15 days the White Sox are 13th in avg and 27th in the more influential stat, OPS. The Cubs on the other hand are leading the majors in both stats over the last 15 days. They also have a significant positive run differential over the last 7 games of 2.9 runs/game while the White Sox have a negative run differential over the same span of 0.1 runs/game. At home the White Sox have a negative run differential of 0.9 runs/game while the the Cubs have a positive run differential of 0.2 runs/game.

In July the Cubs are 10-9 while the White Sox 5-12. It’s clear that the Cubs are less mediocre than the White Sox. That is enough to get them over the finish line as a solid value pick on our midweek mediocre feature for Wednesday.