Greg Peterson sees value backing the White Sox moneyline (+123). Davis Martin pitched far better than his 0-5 record showed in previous action, posting a solid 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings with only 0.9 homers allowed per nine, and is returning from injury after missing last season. The Angels' Jack Kochanowicz struggles mightily generating strikeouts (only 3.4 K/9 last year), and he showed little improvement during Spring Training. With the Angels finishing third-worst in runs per game last season, Peterson calculates enough reasons to back Chicago at the plus-money price (handicapped line White Sox +104).

Dan Marcus acknowledged the risk in stacking the Angels lineup but highlighted strong power potential at the top of their batting order against Jonathan Cannon, who struggles mightily with home runs (1.3 HR/9), a poor SIERA (4.72), and low strikeout rates (17.4%). Marcus specifically pinpointed Mike Trout, Taylor Ward, and Jorge Soler as core, power-oriented DFS plays for Saturday's slate.

Data Skrive points out value in betting on the White Sox (+138) to beat the Angels at home. Despite being underdogs, predictive analysis sees an edge with the home side, suggesting placing a wager on Chicago's plus-money line to capitalize on expected home-field advantage and matchups.

Peter Appel strongly recommends betting on the Angels run line versus the White Sox, citing a significant starting pitching advantage favoring Los Angeles. He projects the Angels' probability of winning this game at 66.9%, justified by the gap between Jose Soriano's promising form and Jonathan Cannon's struggles. Despite Chicago's unexpected Opening Day win, Appel cautions bettors against overreacting. He notes the White Sox registered MLB's worst run line record last season (68-94) and encourages taking advantage of plus-money value currently available on the Angels' side, as he sees the betting market incorrectly influenced by earlier results.

Peter Appel advised betting against Jonathan Cannon, labeling him a clear fade candidate moving forward. Cannon had an unconvincing 2024 season, posting a below-average stat line characterized by low strikeout numbers and mediocrity in limiting walks. Lackluster spring training further highlighted his weaknesses, as he struck out just seven batters in 11.2 innings while surrendering 13 earned runs, walking three, and hitting three batters. Appel also noted Cannon's past early-season struggles—an ERA above 7.00 last April—and questioned the White Sox's continued reliance on him despite poor results in both MLB and Triple-A levels. Appel predicts a rough outing for Cannon against the Angels lineup.

Peter Appel recommended backing Jose Soriano against the White Sox due to a significant pitching mismatch. Soriano showed strong form down the stretch in 2024, posting a 2.45 ERA over 25 second-half innings along with increasing his strikeout rate to 23% and dropping his FIP from 4.12 to 2.74. Soriano's key strengths are his elite ground-ball rate—third-best among pitchers with over 110 innings last year—and his ability to induce swing-and-miss (30%+ whiff rate) with multiple off-speed pitches. His stuff looked even sharper in spring training, improving both strikeout and ground-ball metrics. Given projections that have the Angels winning the matchup approximately 66.9% of the time, Appel emphasizes Soriano as a pitcher worthy of trust until proven otherwise.

Scott Reichel strongly discourages laying -150 or higher with the Angels on the road against the White Sox, viewing Anaheim as significantly overpriced given their poor team quality and early-season struggles. Though acknowledging Mike Trout's presence, Scott emphasizes that both teams project poorly overall, and there's little logic or value in backing Los Angeles at this inflated price, especially traveling east away from their home locale. He expects Chicago—a home underdog—to play with pride, given it's early in the year and crowd support should be present before the season inevitably deteriorates. Scott identifies the White Sox money line as a clearly better value alternative.

Scott Reichel sees solid value betting the under (8.5 runs) in the Guardians-Royals matchup. He cited Gavin Williams' stark home-road splits last year as potentially favorable, pointing out Williams posted a miserable 6.5 ERA at home but improved significantly to a 3.56 ERA on the road. Further, Williams pitched well specifically against Kansas City last season (2.25 ERA, 12 innings pitched). On the opposing side, Seth Lugo was solid last year and has been notably strong against Cleveland's lineup historically. Scott also observed both teams' offenses struggled on opening day, considering Kansas City's offense managed little beyond a Pascuotino home run. This under wager reflects confidence in both starters performing above expectations and the offenses continuing subdued production.

Scott Reichel recommended strongly not betting the Los Angeles Angels as substantial favorites at around -150 against the White Sox. Despite Mike Trout's presence in the Angels' lineup, Scott expressed skepticism over laying significant juice with a team expected to struggle and already showing defensive and pitching weaknesses early this season. He highlighted pitcher Jose Soriano's notable home-road splits from last year, raising red flags about his reliability in this outing. The Angels already displayed defensive ineptitude and shaky bullpen management, employing a position player to pitch on Opening Day, reflecting poor organizational readiness. Scott views Chicago with Jonathan Cannon pitching—who dominated the Angels last season (2-0, 2.00 ERA, allowed just three hits total)—as having clear value as underdogs, given historical success against Anaheim and the Angels' lack of proven consistency.

Lonte Smith endorsed betting the White Sox both for the first five innings and full game against the Angels. He underlined Jonathan Cannon's impressive history against the Angels last year—two starts resulting in a 2-0 record, an outstanding 2.00 ERA, and just three hits allowed total. The White Sox, despite last year's struggles, consistently performed well historically against the Angels, winning seven of their last ten meetings, including a 4-game winning streak that carried into the current season. Lonte sees these historical and pitching matchup advantages as compelling reasons for betting on the White Sox, expecting something around a 5-2 White Sox victory.

Kenyatta Storin favored Mike Trout as a strong home run prop bet Opening Day against Chicago White Sox's relatively unproven starter Sean Burke. Despite limited playing time due to injuries, Trout produced elite metrics last season (98th percentile barrel rate, 99th percentile xSLG). Burke, while notable for high strikeout rates in limited major-league innings (28.9% K rate), projected as vulnerable long-term, evidenced by troubling minor league stats (4.56 xFIP and 1.63 HR/9 in Triple-A) and concerning HR projections (1.44 HR/9 predicted by ATC). Despite less-than-ideal cold weather conditions, FanDuel's projections indicate Trout as having the second-best odds to homer today. Storin recommended betting Trout at +330 odds, emphasizing the favorable matchup and Trout's historically elite hitting capabilities.

ESPN Fantasy highlighted Sean Burke as a worthwhile streaming option on MLB Opening Day. Burke's start is at home in Chicago, where cooler weather conditions generally favor pitching. Importantly, Burke faces an advantageous matchup against the Angels, whose projected lineup ranks among the weakest in the American League, increasing Burke's prospects for a productive fantasy outing.

Rob Donaldson is openly fading Diamondbacks pitcher Zach Gallen against the Cubs bats on Opening Day. Donaldson specifically mentioned Gallen’s continuous issues surrendering extremely high hard-hit percentages the past two seasons despite his perceived elite status. Donaldson believes this vulnerability makes Gallen consistently overvalued and thus sees betting value against Gallen to start the season.

Eric Lindquist expressed strong interest in betting the Angels against Chicago, emphasizing a highly exploitable matchup with White Sox rookie Sean Burke. He called Burke out specifically for his unimpressive MLB debut metrics, citing a notably high 20.8-degree launch angle and 40.4% hard-hit rate allowed, which set up perfectly for power hitters like Taylor Ward and Jorge Soler in the Angels lineup. Lindquist expects both Ward and Soler, among others in the Los Angeles lineup, to generate considerable offense against the inexperienced starter, urging bettors to capitalize on this early-season mismatch.

Eric Lindquist recommended betting under 6.5 strikeouts at plus money for Blake Snell versus the Tigers. Despite Snell's strong underlying metrics historically (2.49 xwOBA in previous season), Lindquist pointed out Snell typically struggles in early-season outings. Facing a predominantly left-handed hitting Tigers lineup with key bats like Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter, who struggle particularly against lefties, Lindquist expects fewer deep at-bats and thus a lower strikeout total from Snell, seeing early-season vulnerability worth exploiting despite Detroit's overall offensive uncertainty.

Eric Lindquist recommended betting under 6.5 strikeouts for Yusei Kikuchi against the White Sox lineup, highlighting matchup concerns with left-handed batters Mike Tauchman and Andrew Benintendi both expected to start. Lindquist noted these lefty-versus-lefty matchups as particularly troubling, suggesting Kikuchi will be less effective against them. He originally cashed this at +105 odds before the line moved to -115, still rating it a strong bet given the unfavorable platoon splits and overall skillset of the White Sox hitters against lefties, making it a clear spot to target unders rather than positive outcomes.

Kyle Purviance humorously suggested a speculative prop bet involvement for Mike Trout to register a stolen base in the Angels-White Sox opening day game. Noting the projected cold weather of around 50 degrees with wind blowing south-southwest at 11 miles an hour, Purviance remarked that offensive output could be significantly limited, forcing teams and star players like Trout to try and manufacture runs through stolen bases. Though delivered somewhat jokingly, this insight aligns with earlier commentary from Brian Howard regarding how cold weather and early-season conditions generally enhance stolen base opportunities.