Game Time: 10:10 pm ET, Thursday, July 7th, 2022 

Venue: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California

Where to Watch:  MLB.tv

DraftKings: 

Caesars:  

PointsBet: 

(will update)

 

Cubs: 33-48, 4th place NL Central

Dodgers: 51-29, 1st place NL West

A National League Matchup between an awful team from the Central division and the best team in the West division.  The Chicago Cubs are having a terribly down year… They have lots of those historically… It may have something to do with their reticence to shoot the payroll into the stratosphere once they get positive results.  The Cubs always seem to be either improving or regressing.  The Dodgers on the other hand will spend what it takes to win… every year.  They want to win, they put the product on the field, and just when you thought the roster had gotten oddly insane… They will pick up a Freddie Freeman or Mookie Betts to make it better.  The Dodgers also can not be faulted for their scouting.  Dodgers tend to draft and develop pitchers at an amazing rate… They know they can sign a great hitting first baseman… or the best hitting shortstop in the league… but finding and developing the next generation Clayton Kershaw keeps happening.  The Dodgers found Tony Gonsolin and Julio Urias… They accurately did the proper diligence on Tyler Anderson to snatch him away from Seattle while they had Clayton Kershaw as the best pitcher in baseball.  

The Cubs have won 6 of their last 10 games.  They have had a good 10 game stretch for the Cubs.  The went 1-1 against the Milwaukee Bucks, 2-1 against the Boston Red Socks, 2-1 against the Cincinnati Reds, and 1-1 against the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Cubs offense revolves around home run leader Patrick Wisdom (17) and Batting average leader Nico Hoerner (.307).  Neither of those guys is threatening to set any records, but they are the best the Cubs have at the moment.  

The Los Angeles Dodgers have won 7 of their last 10 games.  They are on the upswing after having a fantastic series against the San Diego Padres that gave them some breathing room in the NL West.  On offense they rely on Mookie Betts and Trea Turner who are both shortstops in the league but have to alternate into the outfield to fit both their big bats in the line-up.  That isn’t the end of the offense though… The Dodgers still have Freddie Freeman whom they poached from the Braves after last season’s World Series loss… They also have 3 power hitters batting 4, 5, and 6… Will Smith, Max Muncy, and Justin Turner.  An insane idea is that Trace Thompson (Klay Thompson’s “of the NBA” brother) is only a part time player but has won multiple games with his bat in limited use!  This team could trade Bellinger and Turner as a package somewhere and fill the holes before the ink is dry on the paperwork.  

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The Cubs are 16th in scoring with 4.41 per game, 12th in batting average with .249, and 2nd in OBP with .326.

The Dodgers are 1st in runs per game with 5.08, 6th in batting average with .252, and 1st in OBP with .328.

The Cubs are 26th in team ERA with 4.70, 24th in WHIP with 1.35, and 20th in errors with 48 on the season so far.  The Cubs defense is more suspect than their offense… which is also suspect.

The Dodgers pitchers are 3rd in ERA with 2.94, 3rd in WHIP with 1.10, and the fielders are 8th in errors with 37 on the season so far.

 

Our prediction for Thursday July 7th is… Dodgers 7 - Cubs 2

 

The roster, pitching matchup, numbers, record, and just about everything else says the Dodgers will win this one by 3-4 runs.  So (I rarely do this)... bet on the Dodgers to win ATS.  Also bet on the Dodgers to win on the moneyline.  It’s worth the numbers on both.

 

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The Dodgers are 3-0 against the Cubs this season.

The average score in these games has been Dodgers 7 - Cubs 1.

The Cubs have an injury list that lists 7 guys that are out as starting pitchers. The difference is that the Cubs pitching is now awful.

The Dodgers have an injury list that lists 5 guys that are out as starting pitchers. The difference is that the Dodgers pitching is still fantastic.

Cubs: RHP Mark Leiter jr, 2-2, 4.85 ERA, 31 strikeouts in 29 innings pitched.  1.25 WHIP.  The 31 year old has an atrocious ERA for both his career and season… However, he plays for the Cubs. Encouraging for him is that his strikeouts are a few higher than his innings pitched.  He has some talent… Maybe the Cubs are not putting him in a position to win?

Dodgers: RHP Tony Gonsolin, 10-0, 1.54 ERA, 77 strikeouts in 81 innings pitched.  0.82 WHIP.  “Goooose” is a winner and ACE for the Dodgers.  His WHIP is all you really need to see… but the 4x better ERA numbers in the matchup is a pretty big gap for the Cubs to overcome. Tony was going to start last game… turns out the Dodgers flippity floppity floopped.

Cubs: DH Rafael Ortega, SS nico Hoerner, LF Ian Happ, RF Seiya Suzuki, 3B Patrick Wisdom, 1B Alfonso Rivas, C Yan Gomes, CF Nelson Velazquez, 2B David Bote

Dodgers: RF Mookie Betts, SS Trea Turner, 1B Freddie Freeman, DH Will Smith, 2B Max Muncy, 3B Justin Turner,. C Austin Barnes, LF Gavin Lux

 

Cubs: Joe “old as dirt” Maddon

Dodgers: Dave Roberts

Partly Cloudy, 82*, Humidity 55%, Wind 8 mph.  A light summer day of reasonable comfort.  The conditions will be perfect for both clubs.  The precipitation chance is 10%... but it always says that and never seems to actually rain.