Phillies vs Cubs Prediction and Betting Preview | June 9
Zack Wheeler returns to the mound for Monday’s Phillies vs Cubs contest at Citizens Bank Park as Philadelphia looks to snap a five-game losing streak. The GoldSheet team offers its thoughts on tonight’s National League clash.
Phillies vs Cubs Betting Preview
| Time | 6:45pm ET / 3:45pm PT |
| Stadium | Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia |
| Weather | Clear with a Light Breeze from Right to Left |
| MoneyLine | Philadelphia -130 / Chicago +115 |
| Total | 7.5 Runs (o -115 / u -105) |
| RunLine | Philadelphia -1.5 (+160) / Chicago +1.5 (-190) |
Chicago Cubs
The Cubs enter Monday with a four-game lead in the NL Central. Chicago is 8-4 since Memorial Day, but the Cubs did lose two-out-of-three against the AL Central-leading Tigers over the weekend.
After only making eight starts for the Guardians last season, Matthew Boyd has been a fantastic addition to the Cubs’ rotation thus far. The 34-year-old is 5-3 this season with a 3.01 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP in 12 starts.
Boyd enters Monday in the top-third of all pitchers in expected ERA, average exit velocity, chase rate, strikeout rate, walk rate, barrel rate and hard-hit rate. In his last start against the Nationals, he allowed two runs on four hits with six strikeouts and one walk in 7.1 innings.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies are certainly happy to have Wheeler back from the paternity list, but what version of him will we see on Monday? Wheeler hasn’t pitched since May 29 when he allowed six runs on four hits and four walks in 5.1 innings against the Braves.
Philadelphia has lost nine of its last ten games and the Phillies have a -30 run differential during that ten-game span. Bryce Harper has been placed on the IL with a wrist injury and will be out of the lineup this week.
The Cubs’ current roster is hitting .207 in 119 plate appearances against Wheeler with a 28.6-percent strikeout rate and a .263 weighted on-base average. However, the Cubs have enjoyed some recent success against him. Ian Happ is 4-for-9 with a double and a home run. Pete Crow-Armstrong is 2-for-3 with two doubles.
Phillies vs Cubs Prediction
We are interested in grabbing the +0.5 head start with the Cubs on the first five runline. The Cubs bullpen has pitched much better in recent weeks and has actually performed like a top-10 unit over the last month, but that’s still a unit that can be hard to trust. The Cubs won the first five in the lone meeting against Wheeler last season (2-1), and we’re expecting a similar tight battle tonight between two solid starting pitchers.
CHICAGO CUBS +0.5 FIRST FIVE RUNLINE (-125)
Daily MLB Stat Sheet
GoldSheet’s daily MLB stat sheet provides marquee hitter vs pitcher matchup notes, one traditional free play, one prop play, batting stats in a variety of categories and Ralph Michaels’ first inning trends sheet each morning around 9am ET / 6am PT. Oh yeah, we forgot to mention the price…FREE! Download your copy and check out what’s inside.
WagerTalk Live Odds Screen
WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the moneylines, runlines, totals and betting percentages for every MLB game this summer, including tonight’s Phillies vs Cubs contest. Find free MLB picks every day through out the season on our free picks pages.
**************************************************
Looking for more free sports picks and sports betting tips? Go beyond the anytime touchdown scorer picks!
- Latest Betting Odds and Public Action: Vegas lines updated in real time, including who the public is betting on and anytime touchdown scorer odds.
- Last Minute Handicapping Advice: Check out our extensive library of handicapping tips and advice from professional Vegas handicappers (we also recommend taking the time to look over our sports betting tips video library)
- Want an expert opinion? Check out the latest Free Sports Picks and Best Bets from our team of expert sports handicappers.
Make sure to bookmark all the above!
