How to Watch Red Sox vs Rangers – Friday, August 02, 2024

Boston Red Sox

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Texas Rangers

On August 2, 2024, the Texas Rangers will host the Boston Red Sox at Globe Life Field for the first game of their series. With both teams finding themselves almost neck-and-neck in the standings, the matchup carries significant importance, especially for the Rangers, who sit at 52-57 and are looking to break free from their below-average season. Meanwhile, the Red Sox, at 57-50, are riding a wave of success and feature one of the highest-performing offenses in MLB, ranking 4th overall.

The Rangers come off a disappointing 10-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on July 31, struggling to generate any offensive momentum. In contrast, the Red Sox managed to edge out the Seattle Mariners 3-2 in their last outing, showcasing their ability to win close games.

Starting for Texas is Jose Urena, who, despite his solid ERA of 3.07, ranks a dismal 308th among MLB starters. His projections indicate a struggle, with an average of 2.6 earned runs allowed and only 4.4 innings pitched. Contrarily, Kutter Crawford will take the mound for Boston, bringing a respectable 3.57 ERA and a much more favorable ranking of 65th among starters. The projections suggest Crawford will pitch deeper into the game, averaging 5.1 innings while allowing 2.6 earned runs—an average showing that bodes well for his team.

Interestingly, the projections hint at a closer contest than odds might suggest, with Texas projected to score 4.62 runs and Boston at 4.76. With high implied team totals for both sides, this game is poised to deliver plenty of action, particularly with the potent Red Sox offense undermining Urena’s low-strikeout tendencies. For bettors, this matchup presents an intriguing contrast between the Red Sox’s offensive prowess and the Rangers’ struggling lineup, raising expectations for a tightly contested affair.

Boston Red Sox Insights

• Kutter Crawford – Over/Under 4.5 Strikeouts (-120/-110)
  Kutter Crawford has used his curveball 6.3% less often this year (5.8%) than he did last year (12.1%).
  Explain: Because curveballs are one of the most effective pitches to use, a pitcher who alters his pitch mix to use them less often may see less success as a result, particularly if he uses his fastball more instead.
• Masataka Yoshida – Over/Under 0.5 Hits (-235/+180)
  Masataka Yoshida has primarily hit in the back-half of the lineup this season (56% of the time), but he is penciled in 2nd in the batting order in this game.
  Explain: The higher in the order a player bats, the more plate appearances he will get and the more opportunities he will get to hit the Over for every market. A player who hits higher in the order than he normally does may provide extra value opportunity since the market may be based on him hitting lower.
• Boston Red Sox hitters as a unit rank 8th- in the majors for power this year when assessing with their 9% Barrel%.
  Explain: Barrel% measures how often a player hits the ball at the optimal exit velocity and launch angle and is a terrific measure of underlying power.

Texas Rangers Insights

• Texas Rangers – Moneyline (-110)
  The Texas Rangers infield defense profiles as the 3rd-best out of every team today.
  Explain: Defense is an integral part of preventing hits and runs.
• Corey Seager – Over/Under 1.5 Total Bases (-110/-120)
  Corey Seager has been hot lately, raising his seasonal exit velocity of 92.1-mph to 96.7-mph over the last two weeks.
  Explain: Hitting the ball hard increases the chances of either a home run or the ball landing in fair territory for a hit before a fielder can get to it.
• Josh Jung – Over/Under 1.5 Total Bases (+135/-170)
  Josh Jung hits a high percentage of his flyballs to center field (39.8% — 98th percentile) and will have to hit them out towards the game’s 6th-deepest CF fences in today’s game.
  Explain: This player’s skill set does not match up particularly well with the park he’s in today, which may lead to worse-than-usual performance.

Betting Trends

• Over/Under 9.0 Game Total (-110/-110)
  The Texas Rangers have hit the Game Total Under in 27 of their last 41 games at home (+14.15 Units / 32% ROI)
• Over/Under 9.0 Game Total (-110/-110)
  The Boston Red Sox have hit the Game Total Over in 38 of their last 63 games (+13.70 Units / 20% ROI)
• Adolis Garcia – Over/Under 0.5 Runs (+120/-155)
  Adolis Garcia has hit the Runs Under in 19 of his last 24 games (+12.60 Units / 36% ROI)