Texas Rangers at Chicago White Sox

2026-08-26, 7:40 PM ET, Rate Field. Sean Burke (R) against MacKenzie Gore (L). Every number derives from the public Statcast store and the engine's published boards. Charts are code-drawn. Probabilities, not picks. Statcast through 2026-08-25.

What decides tonight

Every number below is a probability this engine published before first pitch and grades that night, or a plain count. No scouting verdicts are ranked here — those live in the panels and carry their own sample sizes.

MacKenzie Gore (LHP)

2470 pitches, K% 21% vs LHB (157 BF) / 28% vs RHB (462 BF)

27 apps · median 24 BF · reaches the order 3.0× (max 4) · exits at 95 pitches (IQR 90–99, 27 starts) · fastball -0.4 mph late (24 deep starts). Fade is measured inside each start on nights that reached 85 pitches, so it is not flattered by the short outings.

League percentiles, starter pool

K%7526%
BB%518%
CSW%4226%
Whiff%6425%
Chase%6331%
xwOBA vs65.303
Hard-hit%2642%
GB%3239%
1st-pitch strike%2659%
published K forecast: E[K] 6.8
recent starts, K (n=5)
907/29
TB
408/04
SF
908/10
LAA
508/15
ATH
708/21
LAA

Arsenal, shape and results

Pitch # vL%vR% MPHIVBHB RPMWhiffCSW Chase 2K use 2K zone xwOBA RV/100
4-seam114935%50%95.3+16+7224521%26%27%41%45%.303-1.1
curveball4565%23%81.7-11-3226729%30%36%23%34%.309+0.9
changeup3010%16%86.4+10+13196440%26%36%15%30%.215-1.1
slider25641%0%85.7+3-4207928%28%30%11%38%.275-0.9
cutter1740%9%89.9+8-2192824%24%28%6%53%.405+1.5
sinker13319%1%95.2+14+1421249%21%42%4%42%.364-0.6

RV/100 is run value per 100 pitches from the pitcher's side, so negative is good (a curveball at −1.3 costs the pitcher runs even if it misses bats — a real tension worth reading, not a contradiction). Whiff, chase and xwOBA are computed on this pitcher's own pitches this season; low-usage pitches carry small samples.

Locations, catcher view

4-seam
curveball
changeup

Movement

4-seam: +16 IVB, +7 HBcurveball: -11 IVB, -3 HBchangeup: +10 IVB, +13 HBslider: +3 IVB, -4 HBcutter: +8 IVB, -2 HBsinker: +14 IVB, +14 HBhorizontal break (in), catcher viewinduced vertical break (in)

How to attack

  • Vs lefties he leans slider (41% of pitches to that side).
  • Lay off the changeup below the zone: 40% whiffs, only 32% of them are strikes.
  • K rate splits 21% vs LHB / 28% vs RHB: the left-handed side of the platoon wears him better.

Sean Burke (RHP)

2355 pitches, K% 26% vs LHB (356 BF) / 26% vs RHB (244 BF)

26 apps · median 23 BF · reaches the order 3.0× (max 3) · exits at 92 pitches (IQR 90–97, 22 starts) · fastball -0.0 mph late (22 deep starts). Fade is measured inside each start on nights that reached 85 pitches, so it is not flattered by the short outings.

League percentiles, starter pool

K%7726%
BB%727%
CSW%7729%
Whiff%5123%
Chase%7833%
xwOBA vs73.295
Hard-hit%5537%
GB%1936%
1st-pitch strike%7565%
published K forecast: E[K] 5.9
recent starts, K (n=5)
1007/30
NYY
408/05
BOS
808/11
CIN
208/16
DET
408/21
NYM

Arsenal, shape and results

Pitch # vL%vR% MPHIVBHB RPMWhiffCSW Chase 2K use 2K zone xwOBA RV/100
4-seam87239%35%94.9+19-4258522%26%37%50%44%.270-1.4
knuckle-curve47826%13%79.4-14+5245326%31%27%21%39%.255+0.5
slider44111%31%86.7+4+5252832%37%37%16%42%.326-0.1
sinker33612%18%94.7+15-1324039%21%30%9%49%.357-0.0
cutter17710%4%90.3+10+3264326%37%30%3%·.290-1.8

RV/100 is run value per 100 pitches from the pitcher's side, so negative is good (a curveball at −1.3 costs the pitcher runs even if it misses bats — a real tension worth reading, not a contradiction). Whiff, chase and xwOBA are computed on this pitcher's own pitches this season; low-usage pitches carry small samples.

Locations and movement (4 charts)
4-seam
knuckle-curve
slider

Movement

4-seam: +19 IVB, -4 HBknuckle-curve: -14 IVB, +5 HBslider: +4 IVB, +5 HBsinker: +15 IVB, -13 HBcutter: +10 IVB, +3 HBhorizontal break (in), catcher viewinduced vertical break (in)

Attack plan vs Texas Rangers

  • Knuckle-curve/slider: top breaking whiffs are Díaz (36%), Seager (36%).
  • Careful with Freeman: 88% contact, 22% K rate vs RHP; pitch to contact at the edges.

White Sox bats vs MacKenzie Gore

Season quality vs tonight's starter hand, percentile-colored vs league: red elite, paper average, blue poor. P columns are the engine's published board numbers for this game. Batting order as posted. 30d contact is the last-30-day contact rate minus the season rate; an arrow is drawn only when the move clears two standard errors of its own noise, and n is the recent swing count.

#BatterPAxwOBAK%Chase%Contact%HH%P(1+ hit)P(1+ HR)30d contact
1Miguel Vargas (R)174.44117%22%85%57%62%16%n217
2Munetaka Murakami (L)132.33137%21%61%62%56%18%n218
3Randal Grichuk (R)136.36924%36%80%50%55%15%n90
4Chase Meidroth (R)155.32719%29%84%38%63%9%n204
5Braden Montgomery (S)74.28430%30%69%40%58%7%n223
6Brenton Doyle (R)73.25127%35%67%34%50%9%n85
7Jake Rogers (R)35.33229%28%64%50%53%9%n62
8Tristan Peters (L)49.27220%24%77%18%52%9%▼ -6% n154
9Luisangel Acuña (R)94.24617%35%76%42%49%4%n69

Texas Rangers bats, where our staff attacks

Whiff by pitch group vs our starter's hand. Blue cells are the attack zones. P columns are the published board numbers. Batting order as posted. 30d contact is the last-30-day contact rate minus the season rate; an arrow is drawn only when the move clears two standard errors of its own noise, and n is the recent swing count.

#BatterPAFB whiffBRK whiffOFF whiffxwOBAChase%Contact%1st-pitch swingP(1+ hit)P(1+ HR)30d contact
1Joc Pederson (L)35925%31%29%.35530%73%31% n35950%11%n155
2Corey Seager (L)21524%36%32%.35828%71%53% n21559%14%n176
3Wyatt Langford (R)23516%26%33%.31827%79%39% n23563%9%n231
4Brandon Nimmo (L)37817%22%19%.36929%82%33% n37863%9%n256
5Ezequiel Duran (R)35119%36%23%.29838%75%40% n35262%9%n246
6Evan Carter (L)31016%35%37%.30719%75%27% n31049%8%n137
7Justin Foscue (R)7315%22%·.29234%81%·54%9%n95
8Elias Díaz (R)10323%36%·.23235%72%34% n10352%10%n141
9Cody Freeman (R)236%··.28019%88%·54%3%n62

Texas Rangers hitters, one card each

One card per hitter: the published probabilities this engine grades tonight, his whiff shape by pitch group, and his season against this starter's hand with the sample stated. Times-through-order and leverage splits are deliberately absent — at a median 45 plate appearances the third-time-through number carries a standard error roughly three times the effect it would be claiming.

1

Joc Pederson (L)

P(1+ hit) 50% · P(1+ HR) 11%

FB25%
BRK31%
OFF29%

vs RHP 0.355 xwOBA, K 22% (359 PA)

2

Corey Seager (L)

P(1+ hit) 59% · P(1+ HR) 14%

FB24%
BRK36%
OFF32%

vs RHP 0.358 xwOBA, K 23% (215 PA)

3

Wyatt Langford (R)

P(1+ hit) 63% · P(1+ HR) 9%

FB16%
BRK26%
OFF33%

vs RHP 0.318 xwOBA, K 21% (235 PA)

4

Brandon Nimmo (L)

P(1+ hit) 63% · P(1+ HR) 9%

FB17%
BRK22%
OFF19%

vs RHP 0.369 xwOBA, K 22% (378 PA)

5

Ezequiel Duran (R)

P(1+ hit) 62% · P(1+ HR) 9%

FB19%
BRK36%
OFF23%

vs RHP 0.298 xwOBA, K 24% (351 PA)

6

Evan Carter (L)

P(1+ hit) 49% · P(1+ HR) 8%

FB16%
BRK35%
OFF37%

vs RHP 0.307 xwOBA, K 22% (310 PA)

7

Justin Foscue (R)

P(1+ hit) 54% · P(1+ HR) 9%

FB15%
BRK22%
OFF·

vs RHP 0.292 xwOBA, K 26% (73 PA)

8

Elias Díaz (R)

P(1+ hit) 52% · P(1+ HR) 10%

FB23%
BRK36%
OFF·

vs RHP 0.232 xwOBA, K 25% (103 PA)

9

Cody Freeman (R)

P(1+ hit) 54% · P(1+ HR) 3%

FB6%
BRK·
OFF·

only 23 PA vs RHP — too few to split

Matchups: CWS hitters vs MacKenzie Gore

Where this starter's actual usage meets each hitter's measured holes and damage, on the same map. An edge is only reported where the pitcher genuinely goes — a hole against a pitch he does not throw is not a matchup — and only where the rate is measurably worse than league for a typical hitter in that same spot. Every line carries its sample size. Batter-versus-pitcher history is shown as trivia and is not used in any of it: the samples that actually occur are far too small to support a conclusion, and most public matchup content is built on them anyway.

1. Miguel Vargas

Edge: batterWhen the ball goes middle-middle — and he puts 6% of his pitches there — the batter does real damage: 0.664 expected value per ball in play, against a 0.393 league average in that spot. (10 balls in play.)

Tonight's published, gradeable numbers for this batter: 62% to get a hit and 16% to homer. Those are what the record grades — the notes above only explain why.

2. Munetaka Murakami

Not enough of a track record in the spots this pitcher uses to say anything useful. No verdict rather than a guess.

Tonight's published, gradeable numbers for this batter: 56% to get a hit and 18% to homer. Those are what the record grades — the notes above only explain why.

3. Randal Grichuk

Edge: pitcherHe throws the four-seam up and in on 4% of his pitches to this side. The batter swings and misses 17% of the time there, against 14% for a typical hitter — +4 points. (15 swings.)

Edge: batterWhen the ball goes down-middle — and he puts 5% of his pitches there — the batter does real damage: 0.653 expected value per ball in play, against a 0.357 league average in that spot. (15 balls in play.)

Tonight's published, gradeable numbers for this batter: 55% to get a hit and 15% to homer. Those are what the record grades — the notes above only explain why.

4. Chase Meidroth

Not enough of a track record in the spots this pitcher uses to say anything useful. No verdict rather than a guess.

Tonight's published, gradeable numbers for this batter: 63% to get a hit and 9% to homer. Those are what the record grades — the notes above only explain why.

5. Braden Montgomery

Not enough of a track record in the spots this pitcher uses to say anything useful. No verdict rather than a guess.

Tonight's published, gradeable numbers for this batter: 58% to get a hit and 7% to homer. Those are what the record grades — the notes above only explain why.

6. Brenton Doyle

Not enough of a track record in the spots this pitcher uses to say anything useful. No verdict rather than a guess.

Tonight's published, gradeable numbers for this batter: 50% to get a hit and 9% to homer. Those are what the record grades — the notes above only explain why.

0 for 1 lifetime. At 1 plate appearances this is trivia, not evidence — it is shown because people ask for it, and it is not used anywhere in the analysis above.

7. Jake Rogers

Not enough of a track record in the spots this pitcher uses to say anything useful. No verdict rather than a guess.

Tonight's published, gradeable numbers for this batter: 53% to get a hit and 9% to homer. Those are what the record grades — the notes above only explain why.

8. Tristan Peters

Not enough of a track record in the spots this pitcher uses to say anything useful. No verdict rather than a guess.

Tonight's published, gradeable numbers for this batter: 52% to get a hit and 9% to homer. Those are what the record grades — the notes above only explain why.

9. Luisangel Acuña

Not enough of a track record in the spots this pitcher uses to say anything useful. No verdict rather than a guess.

Tonight's published, gradeable numbers for this batter: 49% to get a hit and 4% to homer. Those are what the record grades — the notes above only explain why.

Texas Rangers: the running game and the defense

Sprint speed says who can run; attempt rate says who will. Rate is steals of second per time on first, shrunk toward the league’s 5.3% at 22 opportunities, with the raw count beside it. Verdict needs 15+ times on first. Sprint speed and Outs Above Average are Baseball Savant leaderboard metrics — measured from tracking data we do not have and did not compute.

Behind the plate: Jake Rogers — runners went 38-for-49 against him (22% caught). That is mostly the pitcher: measured split-half reliability for a catcher’s own caught-stealing rate is +0.59, and the spread between catchers is smaller than the sampling noise. Read it as what happened, not as a rating.

#Batter Sprint Steal rate Threat OAA
1Joc Pederson (L)25.1 ft/s1.6% (3/231)holds·
2Corey Seager (L)25.0 ft/s1.7% (4/275)holds+1 SS
3Wyatt Langford (R)28.5 ft/s7.8% (26/328)occasional+2 LF
4Brandon Nimmo (L)28.1 ft/s4.4% (17/387)holds-2 RF
5Ezequiel Duran (R)29.0 ft/s9.6% (23/230)occasional+10 SS
6Evan Carter (L)28.9 ft/s13.1% (27/193)occasional+7 CF
7Justin Foscue (R)27.5 ft/s1.6% (0/51)holds·
8Elias Díaz (R)24.4 ft/s0.9% (0/102)holds·
9Cody Freeman (R)·4.3% (2/52)holds·

Chicago White Sox: the running game and the defense

Sprint speed says who can run; attempt rate says who will. Rate is steals of second per time on first, shrunk toward the league’s 5.3% at 22 opportunities, with the raw count beside it. Verdict needs 15+ times on first. Sprint speed and Outs Above Average are Baseball Savant leaderboard metrics — measured from tracking data we do not have and did not compute.

Behind the plate: Elias Díaz — runners went 40-for-51 against him (22% caught). That is mostly the pitcher: measured split-half reliability for a catcher’s own caught-stealing rate is +0.59, and the spread between catchers is smaller than the sampling noise. Read it as what happened, not as a rating.

#Batter Sprint Steal rate Threat OAA
1Miguel Vargas (R)28.3 ft/s3.9% (14/371)holds-2 3B
2Munetaka Murakami (L)27.1 ft/s2.2% (3/166)holds+0 1B
3Randal Grichuk (R)27.3 ft/s1.6% (1/110)holds·
4Chase Meidroth (R)27.2 ft/s3.2% (13/419)holds+4 2B
5Braden Montgomery (S)28.5 ft/s1.8% (1/95)holds·
6Brenton Doyle (R)28.7 ft/s13.4% (31/219)runner·
7Jake Rogers (R)26.3 ft/s2.1% (1/82)holds·
8Tristan Peters (L)28.7 ft/s3.9% (5/135)holds+9 CF
9Luisangel Acuña (R)29.8 ft/s15.9% (29/168)runner-3 SS

Bullpens

Sorted by 30-day workload. Day cells show pitches on the three most recent league game dates; dark means heavy recent use. Season rates percentile-colored vs all pitchers with 150+ pitches.

White Sox bullpen 8 arms
Reliever08/2308/2408/25 games since 30-day K%Whiff%xwOBA Top pitches
Trevor Richards (R)·65·1 heavy341p/13g22%21%.3104-seam 91 (66%) · changeup 80 (23%)
Grant Taylor (R)29·2today262p/13g32%26%.2474-seam 98 (39%) · curveball 83 (26%)
Erick Fedde (R)56··2 heavy260p/6g16%18%.336sweeper 82 (37%) · sinker 94 (33%)
Jordan Hicks (R)··24today208p/11g27%24%.279sinker 100 (39%) · 4-seam 100 (30%)
Tyler Schweitzer (L)·36·1 heavy196p/5g13%20%.366slider 88 (40%) · 4-seam 94 (39%)
Hagen Smith (L)25·43today heavy176p/7g35%32%.2634-seam 94 (53%) · slider 83 (24%)
Sean Newcomb (L)···9167p/8g23%22%.3064-seam 94 (40%) · slurve 83 (38%)
Huascar Brazobán (R)·21·1166p/10g21%24%.295sinker 96 (54%) · changeup 91 (34%)
Texas Rangers bullpen 8 arms
Reliever08/2308/2408/25 games since 30-day K%Whiff%xwOBA Top pitches
Peyton Gray (R)21·18today258p/15g24%24%.3034-seam 93 (48%) · changeup 84 (34%)
Tyler Alexander (L)13·20today231p/14g21%22%.2884-seam 92 (29%) · changeup 85 (22%)
Cole Winn (R)··45today heavy223p/12g23%26%.3444-seam 96 (35%) · slider 86 (27%)
Jacob Latz (L)24··2212p/9g30%28%.2464-seam 94 (53%) · changeup 86 (23%)
Jordan Montgomery (L)·2314today B2B199p/5g19%23%.328sinker 90 (32%) · curveball 79 (25%)
Robby Ahlstrom (L)·16·1183p/13g22%25%.3124-seam 94 (36%) · slider 86 (28%)
Chase Silseth (R)3··2161p/12g27%30%.3244-seam 96 (52%) · sweeper 85 (30%)
Ben Peoples (R)···11128p/7g14%21%.3054-seam 96 (55%) · slider 88 (38%)