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With 5.5 games between the Chicago Cubs and a wild-card spot, time is running out to convince team leadership that the trade deadline should be used to improve this year’s team rather than bolster the roster for future seasons.
After high offseason expectations and a big manager hire in Craig Counsell, Chicago has taken a big step backward and now sits last in the National League Central, and 12th in the NL overall.
The Cubs are set to visit the Royals, who are in a better position; they’re right in the thick of a competitive AL Wild Card race but have fallen off considerably since a hot start to the year. Kansas City started 34-19 and was 13 games over .500 as recently as June 8, but the team is playing below .500 ball since.
Both teams are coming off of home series in which they managed a Game 1 win but each faltered down the stretch and lost the remaining two. The bullpens should be ready to go after a full day off on Thursday, so expect a high devotion of resources from both managers.
These teams are both desperate to put up some consistent wins as the 100-game mark of the season fades farther into the rearview mirror, so the level of urgency should be high.
Let’s take a look at the odds and make a pick for this interleague game.
Cubs vs. Royals odds
- Moneyline: Cubs +125 | Royals -155
- Run Line: Cubs +1.5 (-155) | Royals -1.5 (+125)
- Total: Over 9 runs: -110 | Under 9 runs: -110
Odds via BetMGM
Cubs vs. Royals prediction
Once more, Kyle Hendricks is on the mound for Chicago. After a positively brutal start to the campaign, he’s evened out a bit and even threw a gem, tossing seven shutout innings in a road win over the Cardinals.
However, he came back down to earth a bit in his last start, surrendering three earned runs over five innings. This is probably what we should expect from him and not the ERA approaching double-digits we saw earlier in the season, and certainly not ace-level performances like he displayed in St. Louis.
He’ll be clashing with Brady Singer, who is coming off of a seven-inning shutout performance of his own. Overall, however, Singer’s season has been decidedly stronger than Hendricks’. He owns a 3.00 ERA, although his 1.22 WHIP is a little less impressive.
His underlying metrics also aren’t great. Other than an impressive ground-ball rate, he’s around average in terms of strikeout, walk and whiff rates, and decidedly worse when it comes to chase rate and quality of contact allowed.
Cubs vs. Royals pick
At a team level, neither side exhibits a significant platoon split, but only the top couple of hitters really do well against righties. However, the Cubs’ offense has been brutal since the All-Star break, scoring just nine runs in six games.
Keep an eye on the under for their team total rather than a line that involves the unpredictability we’ve seen from Hendricks of late.
Pick: Cubs under 4.5 runs (-140, DraftKings)