Remember at the start of the season when Mike Trout was swinging the bat well and the Angels were a couple games above .500? Well, Trout is still looking good at the plate. Unfortunately, that hasn’t mattered at all, and Los Angeles has dropped nine of its last 10. C’est la vie.

Two of those nine losses have come in the past two days in the south side of Chicago. On Wednesday, the White Sox will be looking for the sweep.

Let’s preview this matinee American League matchup and make a couple picks on the DraftKings Sportsbook.

Angels vs. White Sox prediction, preview

One of the Angels’ biggest issues is a complete lack of quality from Yusei Kikuchi, who signed a $63 million contract just last year. The Japanese left-hander comes into today’s action in possession of a 6.21 ERA over six starts and 29.0 innings. Is there a case to be made that Kikuchi’s been a little unlucky? Of course. We’re dealing with small samples and baseball here. However, it’s also not like Kikuchi tends to do himself any favors. The 34-year-old is walking over four batters per nine and, as always, his opponent barrel rate is hovering around 9%. Like, I don’t think people will continue to hit .333 off Kikuchi with RISP all season long — which means a 63.1% strand rate will normalize — yet you open yourself up to getting BABIP’d or falling victim to poor sequencing when you walk multiple opponents each and every time you take the mound.

Meanwhile, on the complete opposite end of the luck and results spectrum, we find Erick Fedde, now in his second go-around with the White Sox since rejuvenating his career in Korea. Fedde sports a 3.42 ERA over his 26.1 innings in 2026, and that’s about the only nice thing I can say about the veteran. Heck, I think Fedde’s 5.06 SIERA isn’t harsh enough. Fedde’s almost walking as many batters as the aforementioned Kikuchi, yet he’s doing so with a much, much lower strikeout rate (14.8%) and with much, much more BABIP fortune, as his .211 mark in among the lowest in the league. Fedde pitched to a 5.49 ERA and a 5.38 xERA in 2025. I’m here to tell you that not much has changed, aside from maybe the RHP losing another tick on his fastball. Don’t trust the surface stats at all.

In general, this feels like its going to be a high scoring game. The Angels are one of five clubs with at least 40 home runs this season. They can do damage if they can actually make contact, which is an important distinction, as Los Angeles owns MLB’s second-highest strikeout rate (25.2%). I don’t think Fedde can exploit that flaw. Then there’s the young bats of the White Sox in a matchup with Kikuchi. Chicago has actually been quite dangerous against LHPs in 2026, leading the sport with a .219 ISO within the split. Expect fireworks.

Angels vs. White Sox pick, best bet

Best Bet: White Sox ML (+100)

This just feels like a spot where you bet the underdog, particularly if that underdog is at home and is going up against an opponent that has lost nine of its last 10 contests.