Chicago Cubs vs Cincinnati Reds Prediction 5-26-23 MLB Picks

The Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago Cubs meet Friday in MLB action from Wrigley Field. The Reds are fresh off a series versus the Cardinals. Cincinnati won two of the first three in that set, then on Thursday the Reds took a close loss. As for Chicago, they played the Mets this week. The Cubs took wins in the first pair, and in the finale Chicago lost in blowout fashion. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.

Cincinnati Reds

The Reds lost to the Cardinals 8-5 on Tuesday but won two of the first three games 6-5 and 10-3 otherwise. On Thursday Cincinnati out-hit the Cardinals 7-6 in a tough 2-1 loss. Starter Luke Weaver finished with 6.1 clean frames, three hits and a walk.

For the starter job Friday it’ll be Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene. Over 10 starts so far Greene is 0-4 with a 4.68 ERA and 69 Ks in 50.0 innings total. Greene is 5-17 with a 4.51 career ERA in 34 starts.

Chicago Cubs

Over on the Cubs’ side, they beat the Mets 7-2 Tuesday and 4-2 in game two. In the Thursday finale Chicago gave up 15 hits in a 10-1 loss. Starter Kyle Hendricks put up 4.1 innings with three earned on six hits and two walks .

In the starter slot for the Friday game the Cubs are sending out Justin Steele. In his 10 starts this year Steele is 6-1 with a 2.20 ERA and 53 Ks in 61.1 innings. Steele is 14-12 in his career with a 3.19 ERA over 54 games (43 starts).

The Reds are 16-36 in their last 52 road games and 10-27 in the last 37 versus the NL Central. Cincinnati is 2-8 in the last 10 Friday games.

Meanwhile, the Cubs are 18-3 in the last 21 Friday games and 18-6 in their last 24 in game one of a series. The over is 8-1 in Chicago’s last nine in game one of a series.

ANDREW’S FREE PICK

I’ll take a stab on the Reds here. Greene could use a good start, though. In his last pair combined, Greene has 11.0 innings with 10 earned on 13 hits and four walks. If he can somehow pull off a quality outing on Friday however the Reds should be in very good shape. On Thursday Cincinnati couldn’t get much of anything going on offense but pitching wise the team was (mostly) on point. The Reds are going to need to get the bats to wake up here, but I think they’ve got a good chance.