Cubs vs. Athletics prediction and odds for Monday, April 17 (Hayden Wesneski will bounce back)

The Chicago Cubs are fresh off a big series victory over the Dodgers in Los Angeles and now they get to take on the team with the worst record in Major League Baseball, the Oakland Athletics.

Hayden Wesneski takes the mound for the Cubs, which may make fans and bettors nervous. Wesneski has allowed five earned runs in just 6.0 innings pitched this season. He was pulled after just 1.1 innings in his last start on April 11.

He'll face Kyle Muller of the Athletics, who has alos had a rough start to 2023, sporting an ERA of 5.52.

Let's dive into the odds for the game and then I'll breakdown my best bet.

I'm going to try not to put too much value in such a small sample size of Wesneski's two starts, and instead I'm going to bank on some positive regression from him. He may not be as good as last year's 2.45 ERA, but he's not as bad as the 7.50 ERA he sports this season.

What gives me the most confidence in the Cubs is Chicago's offense, which has been top 10 unit through the first two weeks of the season. They rank 8th in OPS (0.765) and 7th in runs per game, averaging 5.21 per contest.

Those numbers are leagues ahead of the Athletics, who are average only 3.88 runs per game which ranks 26th in the Majors.

If Kyle Muller is able to survive his start for the A's, Oakland will have to turn to one of the worst bullpens in the Majors. The Athletics bullpen ERA sits at 5.88 so far in their 2023 campaign.

I'll back the Cubs on the moneyline in this interleague showdown.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.