Fresh off a sweep of the Red Sox at historic Fenway Park, the Jays will continue their MLB living-museum tour this weekend with a three-game set against the Cubs at equally historic Wrigley Field. Not only that, but with another win this afternoon, Toronto can get back to .500 for the first time in a long time. It’s been a pretty important road trip.
On Chicago’s side, the club has won back-to-back series versus the lowly Rockies and Giants. Surely the reigning American League Champions will be a step-up in terms of competition. Still, the Cubs just need victories any way they can get them, as the Brewers continue to pull away in the NL Central standings.
Let’s preview this matinee interleague battle and make a couple picks on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Blue Jays vs. Cubs prediction, preview
This sort of projects to be a sneaky amazing pitchers duel.
We all know about what the Jays have in Kevin Gausman. The former fourth-overall pick has been one of baseball’s most consistent arms this decade, sitting second in fWAR among pitchers since the beginning of 2020 (26.5). The only man better? Zack Wheeler. How’s that for some high-quality company? Gausman’s simply been really good for a really long time. Heck, with just two innings of work on Friday, Gausman will become one of very few active pitchers with 2,000 career innings under their belt. Maybe his fastball doesn’t have the same zip that it had back in the day, yet Gausman remains effective. For the season as a whole, the RHP is in possession of a 3.41 ERA and a 3.20 FIP. Gausman doesn’t strike out an elite percentage of opposing hitters anymore, yet a minuscule 4.6% walk rate translates into a perfectly robust 5.4 K/BB ratio. The 35-year-old is also directly on the heels of one of his best starts of 2026, as he held the powerful Yankees lineup to a single hit and a single run over seven frames.
Fewer people know what the Cubs have in Ben Brown, who will toe the rubber opposite of Gausman this afternoon. Brown has bounced back-and-forth between Chicago’s rotation and bullpen the past three years, but injuries to Matthew Boyd (knee), Cade Horton (elbow) and Jameson Taillon (hamstring) have necessitated the right-hander’s gig as a starter since early May. What has Brown done with this opportunity? Only post a 1.49 ERA and a 2.13 FIP over seven outings and 36.1 innings. Not too shabby. Obviously, Brown won’t be able to maintain a 2.0% HR/FB ratio forever — especially when making half his starts at Wrigley — but the implementation of a sinker in 2026 has clearly been beneficial to Brown’s game. His knuckle curve is also just gross. The offering has induced a 44.2% whiff rate this season and opponent are hitting just .119 off the pitch.
I have my doubts that Toronto’s lineup will be the one to end Brown’s wild run of success, too. Though the Jays are hitting better as of late, the advanced numbers continue to absolutely detest this team. To wit, Toronto’s .287 expected wOBA over the past two weeks ranks 29th in the league. In 2026, the Jays also rank in the bottom two in MLB in average exit velocity (88.0) and expected wOBA on batted ball events (.340). The poster child for these struggles has been Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and his sudden loss of power. Even with a first inning home run on Thursday, the All-Star owns a paltry .093 ISO across 300 plate appearances. Vladdy’s .372 slugging percentage is barely higher than his .367 OBP. Yikes.
Blue Jays vs. Cubs pick, best bet
Best Bet: Cubs ML (-125)
The Cubs are 22-16 at home this season, and they’ve also won Ben Brown’s past three starts. Kevin Gausman has been great in 2026, but as per usual, I think run support will be an issue on Friday.
