Cubs vs Giants Prediction, Picks, Odds

Covers

11 June 2023

San Francisco barely avoided complete disaster against the Cubbies Saturday, scrounging together a single hit against Hendricks. With the Giants' bats looking small, our MLB picks expect Hayden Wesneski to help pull off the sweep for Chicago.

Photo By - USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants’ momentum has been stopped in its tracks by the Chicago Cubs this weekend. After sweeping the Rockies in Colorado, San Francisco is out to avoid a sweep on Sunday afternoon a night removed from getting held hitless by a struggling right hander. Will San Fran be able to salvage something out of this series, or will the Cubbies be reaching for the brooms?

Join me as I break down this Cubs vs. Giants matchup and provide you with those answers and more in my MLB picks and predictions.

Cubs vs Giants odds

Cubs vs Giants predictions

Some people may not agree with me, but I’m a believer in the Hayden Wesneski resurgence. Let me explain.

The young righty got off to a horrid start in the bigs — posting a 5.24 ERA in April and a 4.35 ERA in May — but over his last two outings, he’s been much more under control. Wesneski has only walked three batters in his last two starts spanning 8 1/3 innings, showing some much-needed growth in that area. He’s also struck out eight over that span, and strikeouts were also a very volatile area for him.

When you put it all together, you have a steadily improving prospect. Wesneski’s expected batting average in the month of April was a horrid .314, and in May it fell to .266. In June, he’s pitched to a .242 xBA.

There's also the big issue in the San Francisco Giants bats that managed just one hit in Saturday night's masterclass from Kyle Hendricks. So, with Wesneski pitching well and the Giants posting a 90 wRC+ in the last week despite playing three games at Coors Field, I feel pretty good about taking the Chicago Cubs at plus money.

Chicago is a surprising 14-19 as the underdog this year, making this a profitable spot.

My best bet: Cubs moneyline (+120 at DraftKings)

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Cubs vs Giants moneyline analysis

As mentioned above, Chicago opened as the underdog in this matchup with San Francisco sitting anywhere from -140 to -150 as of Sunday afternoon.

The Cubs have been struggling at the dish, and John Brebbia has posted a 3.38 ERA as a reliever to this point in the season. The righty will get the ball to begin things in this one before the bullpen takes over, which should be good news for Chicago. The Giants' bullpen owns a 4.09 ERA this season, which puts them just outside the Bottom 10 in the league.

On top of that, Jakob Junis will be unavailable here after throwing 59 pitches yesterday and long man Sean Manaea is also out of commission after throwing 71. Sure, the likes of Tristan Beck and Luke Walker are able to pitch here, but that’s hardly any help.

Chicago really should take full advantage of this matchup on Sunday.

Cubs vs Giants Over/Under analysis

The Under is 18-15 in games where the Cubs are underdogs, and with that, I’m going to go ahead and back a low-scoring game.

I have concerns about this Giants pitching staff, but it’s improbable that the Cubs are able to cash this Over all by themselves given how poorly they’ve hit over the last week of play. They own a 68 wRC+ in the last seven days, which is fifth-worst in the league, and San Francisco isn’t much better... sitting just five spots higher than Chicago.

The Under has commanded 62% of the bets over at DraftKings but just 26% of the money. That’s certainly an interesting trend, but I’m still inclined to believe in Wesneski here and the recent trends we’ve seen out of this Cubbies' offense.

Cubs vs Giants game info

Starting pitchers

Hayden Wesneski (2-2, 4.72 ERA): The RHP has yet to work more than five innings since a solid May 7 start against the Cubs, but has allowed just three earned runs in his last two — spanning 8 1/3 innings

John Brebbia (2-0, 3.38 ERA): Info