Cardinals vs. Cubs Prediction and Odds for Thursday, June 2 (Bet Chicago at Home)
By Reed Wallach
Two NL Central foes start their series at Wrigley Field on Thursday.
The Cubs beat the first place Milwaukee Brewers at home in extra innings on Wednesday and will look to follow it up on Thursday by beating the second place Cardinals. St. Louis is 2 games back of the Brewers in the division race and will look to knock off the 21-29 Cubbies and continue to gain ground.
Here are the odds for Thursday's matchup with odds courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook:
Cardinals vs. Cubs Odds, Run Line, Total
Run Line:
- Cardinals: -1.5 (+150)
- Cubs: +1.5 (-180)
Moneyline:
- Cardinals: -105
- Cubs: -105
Total: 8 (Over -110/Under -110)
Cardinals vs. Cubs Prediction and Pick
While one would think that the Cardinals are the far superior team, the line says it all and I'm going to back the Cubs as slight home underdogs.
The Cubbies hit lefties well relative to the rest of the league, 11th in OPS this season and the team is set up for success against lefty rookie Matthew Liberatore. He has been decent in his first pair of starts, but hasn't been able to go as far into games, pitching 4.2 and 5 innings, respectively. Liberatore has also struggled with walks, putting 5 men on base through those 9.2 innings.
Against a Cubs team that is seeing the ball well, 13th in wRC+ over the last 2 weeks, I like them to get to Liberatore and put some pressure on the Cardinals pitching staff.
On the other side, the Cubs will send out Keegan Thompson for his fourth start of the season. Thompson has been a swiss army knife of sorts for the Cubs, posting a 1.58 ERA, but his FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) is nearly 2 runs higher. It's a concern, but Thompson operates as more of an opener when he starts, and the Cubs and Cardinals have negligible bullpens, each pen separated by 0.1 ERA.
I like a hot start for the home team and will jump on the cheap price.
LEAN: Cubs -105
You can find all of Reed's bets HERE!