Saturday brings a full slate of MLB games throughout the day with the earliest first pitch coming at 1:05 p.m. EST. The New York Yankees once again host the Chicago Cubs for a battle between two of baseball’s top teams as plenty of the game’s brightest stars take the field in the Bronx.
Here’s a Yankees vs. Cubs prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for this Saturday afternoon matinee.
Yankees vs. Cubs prediction, preview
The Yankees sit 53-41 after last night’s action, a contest in which they demolished the Cubs in an 11-0 blowout. It marked the fifth straight win for New York as they seem to have shaken off the bad vibes of a six-game losing streak which came before, so the Bronx Bombers look to take some positive momentum into the All Star break.
New York remains third in runs scored this year, fourth in AVG and first in OPS. Their offense has produced at least five runs in seven of their last 10 games — even during the losing streak — as their bats just keep firing. In Friday night’s win, five players produced multi-hit efforts including Cody Bellinger, who knocked three home runs and could’ve had a fourth had it not been robbed by Kyle Tucker at the wall.
That kind of rout was atypical for the Cubs, who fell to 55-39 on the campaign as they skid into the All-Star break themselves. Chicago hasn’t won consecutive games since July 4 and are 2-4 since then, so they’re focused on finishing strong over their last two games before the season takes a brief pause.
The Cubs’ offense ranks second in runs, eighth in AVG and fourth in OPS, so their scoreless drubbing on Friday was an exception to the norm. It’s possible fatigue is just setting in at this point, but the trio of Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch likely won’t stay down for long. With a better performance by the pitching staff on Saturday, they’ll be a threat to get back into the win column.
Yankees vs. Cubs pick, best bet
The odds on DraftKings Sportsbook favor the Yankees at -172 on the Moneyline while the Cubs are +140 underdogs on the Moneyline. The run total sits at just eight combined runs in this one.
New York does trot out an ace in Max Fried, a veteran lefty with a 2.27 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. He’s struck out 111 batters over 119.0 innings with an impressive 11-2 record across 19 starts. As for Chicago, lefty Matthew Boyd takes the mound with some equally-impressive numbers. He boasts a 2.52 ERA and 1.07 WHIP along with 96 strikeouts in 103.2 innings.
This lefty-on-lefty duel should be a fun one, though the Yankees do see a slight advantage with Fried on the mound. The more concerning part is the momentum they carry into Saturday’s matchup after last night’s blowout, as well as the questionable form the Cubs are in at the moment. If Chicago is going to rebound, Fried probably isn’t the pitcher it’ll happen against.
Plus, the Yankees actually slash .262/.348/.460 against southpaws, the better of their lefty/righty splits. Compare that to the Cubs at their lower side of .249/.317/.439 and it feels like another New York win may be in the cards. At this point though, it’s probably a better bet to target over eight runs at -118 than taking either side of the matchup, especially since these teams can pour on the runs in a hurry.
Best bet: Over eight runs (-118)
Click the odds on this bet to tail!
