Tampa Bay Rays vs Chicago Cubs Prediction, 4/18/2022 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Tampa Bay Rays vs Chicago Cubs

Date: Monday, April 18, 2022

Location: Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL

TV: Marquee

Odds/Point Spread: Tampa Bay (-145) Chicago (+125)

The Chicago Cubs (4-4) host the Tampa Bay Rays (5-5) at Wrigley Field on Monday. The moneyline on this game has the Rays at -145 and the Cubs are at +125. The over/under is 9. The pitchers who are expected to start will be Shane McClanahan and Kyle Hendricks.

The Rays have accrued 15 doubles as a unit and have hit 7 baseballs out of the park. Tampa Bay has a slugging % of .377 and have been rung up 83 times, while being walked on 28 occasions. As a squad, the Tampa Bay Rays are scoring 3.9 runs per game, which has them sitting at 19th in the league. They have compiled 35 runs batted in in addition to 73 base knocks for the year, and their team batting average is at .243. They have notched a total of 35 runs while having a team OBP of .305.

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Rays pitchers have surrendered 10 home runs and also 41 runs (24th in baseball). Their pitching staff has walked 28 opposing players and their FIP comes in at 3.61 as a team on the year. They have earned a K/BB ratio of 3.25 and the pitching staff has a collective WHIP of 1.21. The Rays have an ERA of 3.83 for the season (14th in MLB), and the staff has struck out 91 batters.

The Rays bullpen have earned a save percentage of 50.0% and has entered the game in 8 save situations. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 15 base runners on the campaign and 13.3% of them earned a run for their team. Rays bullpen pitchers have come into the game with runners on base 11 times as well as having 6 appearances in high leverage situations. The Rays have sent 36 relievers to the hill for the year. The relief pitchers have notched 4 holds for the year (17th in the league). They have compiled 2 saves so far this year and have blown 2 of 4 chances to get a save.

The Rays have turned 69.1% of balls hit into play into outs out of 720 innings on the diamond, ranking them 21st in pro baseball. The Tampa Bay Rays have earned 240 putouts at this point in the season, as well as 72 assists and 6 errors. Their fielding percentage is holding at .981 which puts them in 25th in professional baseball, and have 5 double plays.

McClanahan (10-7 career mark) has earned a FIP of 3.30 and he has faced 555 opposing batters in the majors. He has conceded 126 base hits (8.6 hits per nine innings) with 42 walks. His earned run average is 3.40 (50 ER's allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.270. McClanahan has taken the ball for 132 frames and has accumulated 156 K's so far in his MLB career.

The Chicago Cubs have an on-base percentage of .358 in addition to a team batting average of .274 this season. They have struck out on 61 instances (25th in baseball) and have 72 base hits. Chicago has accumulated 6 long balls on the year and 35 RBIs. The Cubs hold a team slugging percentage of .426 and they are recording 4.75 runs per contest (8th in MLB). They have put up 20 doubles, while taking a walk 31 times and putting up 38 runs.

The Chicago pitching staff have relinquished 33 runs this year while having a team ERA of 4.30 (33 earned runs relinquished). They have yielded 9 long balls and they surrender 4.30 runs per 9 innings (14th in baseball). The Cubs have a WHIP of 1.333 and have a FIP of 4.18 as a squad so far this year. They currently have a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.41 (65 strikeouts against 27 free passes). They rank 15th in the league as a pitching staff in total hits relinquished with 65.

Chicago has called on relievers to take the mound in 5 save chances and they have come away with 3 saves. They rank 19th in the league with a save percentage of 60.0%, and they have dispatched 28 bullpen pitchers onto the diamond this year. Their relievers have stepped onto the hill 10 times in high leverage situations and also on 9 occasions with runners on. Chicago bullpen pitchers have an inherited score rate of 33.3% out of 15 inherited runners. Sitting with 12 save situations, the Cubs have accumulated 5 holds and also 2 blown saves.

Out of their 621 innings on the diamond, the Cubs are sitting with a defensive efficiency of 69.8% (18th in pro baseball). The Chicago Cubs have gotten 10 double plays and hold a fielding percentage of .996 (3rd in the majors). The Cubs have racked up 68 assists, 1 error and have 207 putouts this season.

In his career, Hendricks has given up 1,143 base hits and he has 1,024 strikeouts in 1,237 innings pitched. He has allowed 466 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.148 and being the owner of a FIP of 3.7. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.70 and he has faced 5,062 opposing hitters during his career. Hendricks (83-56 career mark) has earned a 3.39 ERA and has given up 8.3 hits per 9 innings.

Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread or moneyline?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Tampa Bay (-145)

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