After dropping the first of a three-game set against the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers are looking to bounce back in game two at Wrigley Field.
With their star studded cast, the Dodgers are the favorite by the MLB odds as rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto makes just his third career start on the mound. With Yamamoto’s up and down play, he’ll need plenty of support from the Blue Crew’s bats.
Find out where my best bets lie in my free MLB picks for the Dodgers vs. Cubs on Saturday, April 6.
Dodgers vs Cubs odds
Dodgers vs Cubs predictions
When Mookie Betts was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, nobody doubted the star shortstop would find success in the City of Angels. After signing a 12-year. $365 million extension the other day, it’s safe to say Betts has more than lived up to expectations.
The seven-time All-Star is coming off his sixth Silver Slugger Award and is the early favorite for NL MVP. Through 10 games this season, he’s already racked up 17 hits with five home runs and 11 RBIs — plus he has a slash line of .447/.553/.974 and a 1.527 OPS.
It doesn’t look like Betts pace will be slowing down in game two against the Chicago Cubs either with Jordan Wicks getting the start in the Windy City.
Wicks’ arsenal is primarily made up of pitches that Betts performs well against. He’s used his four-seamer 40% of the time this season followed by his changeup (29.4%), and sinker (20%).
Betts has been smoking all three pitches this season with a 1.667 SLG against the sinker, a .900 SLG against the four-seamer, and a 1.200 SLG against the changeup. He’s already combined for a run value of 10 against those three pitches.
While it’s a small sample size this season, he killed both the four-seamer and sinker last season, too. In 2023, Betts hit .307 with a .637 SLG against four-seamers and .363 with a .584 SLG against sinkers.
The only other two pitches Wicks uses more than 2% of the time are his curveball (4.7%) and slider (4.7%). Last season, Betts hit .457 with an .857 SLG against curves and .291 with a .598 SLG against sliders.
It could be a short afternoon for Wicks the way Betts should be able to immediately exploit his bag of pitches.
My best bet: Mookie Betts Over 1.5 total bases (+105 at bet365)
Dodgers vs Cubs same-game parlay
Mookie Betts Over 1.5 total bases
Shohei Ohtani Over 0.5 hits
Seiya Suzuki Over 0.5 hits
Like Betts, Shohei Ohtani can bash Wicks’ go-to pitches, even if the two-time MVP has had a bit of a slower start to his Dodgers career than expected. Last season Ohtani hit .402 with an .818 SLG off four-seamers and his SLG was over .500 against changeups, sinkers, curveballs, and sliders.
As for the Cubs bats, Seiya Suzuki should find success against Yamamoto. The Dodgers rookie primarily uses three pitches — four-seamer, split finger, and curveball — with his split finger giving many batters trouble. However, Suzuki hit .667 with a 1.500 SLG against split fingers last season.
Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.
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Dodgers vs Cubs moneyline and Over/Under analysis
- The Dodgers opened as a -190 to -200 favorite against the Cubs and remain there after falling 9-7 in game one
- Los Angeles is 7-3 this season, sitting first in the NL West, while Chicago is 5-2 having won five straight
- The Over/Under opened as low as 7.5 with most books coming up to 8.0.
- The Dodgers are 7-2-1 betting the Over this season and have hit it in four straight. The Cubs are 5-2 betting the Over
Trend to know
The Dodgers have hit the game total Over in 97 of their last 175 games. Find more MLB betting trends for Dodgers vs. Cubs
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Dodgers vs Cubs game info
| Location: | Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL |
| Date: | Saturday, April 6, 2024 |
| First pitch: | 4:05 p.m. ET |
| TV: | FS1 |
Starting pitchers
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (0-1, 7.50 ERA): The 25-year-old former Nippon Professional Baseball star signed a 12-year, $325 million contract to join the Boys in Blue this offseason. Despite the NL Rookie of the Year hype, Yamamoto got off to a tough start going just one inning in his debut. He bounced back pitching five innings with five strikeouts in his second start against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Jordan Wicks (0-0, 4.50 ERA): The 24-year-old Wicks is set for his first full season in the majors after pitching 34 2/3 innings last season and allowing a 4.41 ERA. In his first start of this season, Wicks went just four innings giving up five hits and five runs against the Texas Rangers.
