Both the Chicago Cubs and the Toronto Blue Jays will find themselves in the playoffs barring unforeseen disaster, but their seeding is very much up in the air.
The Cubs have watched their NL Central lead over the Brewers evaporate over the past month. Milwaukee’s surge to the top of the league has left Chicago in the dust, and it would take one heck of an effort for the Cubbies to chase down a division title. What’s worse is that the Cubs are playing sub-.500 ball since the All-Star break, so the Padres are now challenging them for the top Wild Card spot. They’ll have to stop the slide soon or risk a more precarious position.
Toronto is on the opposite end of things. Amid a grand surge over the last two months, they’ve seized control of the AL East and surpassed the Tigers for the top record in the league. The offense has gone gangbusters while they’ve found stability in the pitching rotation. Breakout players like Addison Barger and Ernie Clement have supplemented a good core of stars to propel Toronto into the contender’s circle.
The Blue Jays are a -115 Moneyline favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook. The run total is set at 8.5 runs. Let’s dig into a preview, prediction, and pick for this Blue Jays vs. Cubs game.
Blue Jays vs. Cubs prediction, preview
This game brings a very intriguing pitching matchup to the mound.
Max Scherzer has finally found some consistency after injury troubles. In his last three turns on the bump, the 41-year-old pitched six or more innings in each while recording a 2.84 ERA. It’s unlikely that he snaps back into being an ace, but the three-time Cy Young winner gives them essential depth in the rotation as they go down the stretch run.
For the Cubs, Matthew Boyd is turning in the best season of his career at 34 years old. According to Baseball Savant, Boyd’s pitching has been worth 19 total runs for Chicago this year, a 96th-percentile mark. 69% of the time, you’re going to see a four-seamer or a changeup coming from Boyd, and that combination has been elite. He’ll need to have his best stuff against a Jays team that is batting .314 over the past month.
You read that right. An entire team is hitting .314 over a month-long span.
But the Blue Jays can be contained. His rotation mate, Cade Horton, allowed just one hit over 5.2 innings on Wednesday night. This Cubs bullpen has found some life. If anyone can contain the Jays, it’s going to be Boyd. Plus, I don’t expect Scherzer to have significant trouble with a Cubs offense that is stuck in the mud recently.
