To close out the final Sunday in August and put a bow on top of another full day of Major League Baseball, this week’s Sunday Night Baseball matchup is a divisional showcase between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago Cubs. NBC has the coverage of the third game in this NL Central matchup, which is also the rubber game of the three-game series. The first pitch is at 7:20 p.m. ET for Sunday Night Baseball this week, and based on the first two games of the series, it should be an exciting contest. Let’s dive into the matchup and take a look at my top three best bets from the player prop market in this Sunday Night Baseball matchup.
Overall, the Cubs are solid home favorites at -152 on the Moneyline, and they are getting 84% of the bets on the Moneyline as of Sunday afternoon. The over/under is 9.0 runs, with 52% of the bets on the over.
For each Major League Baseball matchup, DraftKings Sportsbook has a wide variety of batter and pitcher props on the board, so let’s take a look at my top plays from this fun Sunday night Reds-Cubs matchup.
Reds at Cubs Prop Bets for Sunday 8/30/26
Shota Imanaga 7+ Strikeouts (+121)
Imanaga will take the mound for the Cubs in the series finale against Reds starter Chase Burns. While Burns has impressed all season long, he has had a few bumpy outings lately and is in a tougher matchup. Rather than backing Burns, my favorite player prop from the starting pitchers is from Imanaga, who gets a much more favorable matchup and odds against the Reds.
Imanaga has gone 3-2 over his last eight starts with a 2.55 ERA and 4.55 FIP, with 44 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings. He faced the Reds twice this season, allowing two runs with 15 strikeouts in 11 innings. When he faced them at Wrigley, he racked up 10 strikeouts, and he also posted 10 strikeouts in his most recent home start, when he shut down the White Sox.
In his 15 home starts, he has 86 strikeouts in 88 2/3 innings. He’s averaging 5.7 strikeouts per game at home and 5.5 strikeouts per game overall. However, his recent trend indicates he is on an upward trend in strikeouts, and he has a very favorable matchup against Cincinnati. The Reds have the highest K% in the MLB this season and the third-highest over the last month. They struck out 10 times on Friday and 11 times on Saturday.
If Imanaga stays in form, he should be able to pick up slightly over a strikeout per inning, reaching seven strikeouts if he puts together another quality start. He only lasted two innings in his last start while struggling with his command, but he has a good chance to bounce back in this soft spot against Cincinnati.
Pete Crow-Armstrong 3+ Hits + Runs + RBIs (+113)
PCA has been the hero of the series for the Cubs and continues his impressive MVP campaign. Getting him at plus-money for three or more HRR (hits, runs and RBIs) is a great value since he can reach this with just one good and productive at-bat. He can reach this prop line with a solo home run or a two-RBI single. With many ways to get to this prop line, Crow-Armstrong always has a chance to reach this over, even if Burns is lights out early in the game.
Crow-Armstrong smashed his prop line yesterday, totaling 14 HRR with three homers, six RBIs and four runs scored. While that monster game admittedly skews his averages, he has averaged 3.7 HRR over his last 12 games. He has gone over this prop line in six of those 12 contests with nine homers during that span and a 19.5% barrel rate.
In his career, PCA is only 0-for-1 against Burns, but he is 12-for-35 (.343) with 32 HRR in nine games against the Reds this year (3.6 HRR per game). Burns has been excellent this season, but lefties like PCA have hit .234 with a .728 OPS against him, while he has held righties to a .192 average and .501 OPS. While it’s still not a great matchup, there’s enough positive signs to love getting plus-money odds at this HRR total.
Sal Stewart 2+ Total Bases (+110)
On the Reds’ side of the box score, Stewart is my favorite hitter to target against Imanaga. The Reds’ 1B has had an impressive All-Star campaign in his first full season in the majors, hitting .265 with 30 homers, a .352 wOBA and 252 Total Bases. That gives him an average of 1.85 total bases per game.
More recently, Stewart has been even better. Over his last 20 games, Stewart is hitting .321 with 2.1 total bases per game. He has picked up two hits in each of the first two games in this series, with a homer and a single for five total bases in each contest.
Throughout the year, Stewart has been very effective against lefties, hitting .295 with a .392 wOBA and 147 wRC+ against southpaws like Imanaga. He’s 3-for-6 with a home run in this matchup against Imanaga specifically, and after his two big games to start the series, he’s a strong plus-money play to round out Sunday night’s player props best bets.
If you combine these three Sunday night props into a Same Game Parlay, the odds stack up to a strong +750.
