Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction, 5/29/2026 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals

Date: Friday, May 29, 2026

Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

TV: Cardinals.TV

Odds/Point Spread: Chicago (-160) St. Louis (+132)

Busch Stadium is the location where the St. Louis Cardinals (29-25) will attempt to defeat the Chicago Cubs (30-26) on Friday. The moneyline on this game has the Cubs at -160 while the Cardinals are priced at +132. The total is 8.5. The pitchers taking the mound are Shota Imanaga and Kyle Leahy.

As a unit, the Chicago Cubs are notching 4.7 runs/g, which has them sitting at 7th in the league. They have a total of 265 runs scored while holding a team on-base percentage of .336. The Cubs have earned 83 doubles as a team and have hit 63 balls out of the stadium. They have tallied 245 RBI's in addition to 451 base knocks this season, while their average at the plate is at .238. Chicago has a slugging % of .389 and have struck out 463 times, while taking a walk on 255 occasions.

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They have earned a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.65 and their pitching staff has a collective WHIP of 1.24. Cubs pitchers have surrendered 78 home runs and 251 total runs (18th in MLB). Chicago has given up 447 hits (8.1 per 9 innings) as well as 233 earned runs. The Cubs have compiled a team ERA of 4.22 on the season (19th in baseball), and the staff has rung up 451 hitters. Their pitching staff has walked 170 opposing batters and their FIP comes in at 4.42 as a unit so far this season.

The Cubs have sent 169 relief pitchers to the mound over the course of the season. The relief pitchers have inherited 74 runners this season with 29.7% of those runners ended up crossing the plate. The relief pitchers have tallied 11 holds this year (30th in MLB). Cubs relief pitchers have entered the contest with runners on base 51 times and also have had 51 appearances in high leverage situations. They have compiled 10 saves so far this year and have missed out on 7 of 17 chances to get a save. The Cubs relief pitchers have accumulated a save rate of 58.8% and have entered the game in 31 save situations.

The Chicago Cubs have earned 1,489 putouts this year, in addition to 526 assists and 28 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .986 which has them sitting 16th in pro baseball, and have accumulated 38 double plays. The Cubs have converted 71.6% of balls in play into outs out of their 4,467 innings, which has them sitting 7th in baseball.

Imanaga has pitched in 382 innings and has totaled 358 K's during his career. Imanaga (28-16 career record) is the owner of a FIP of 3.36 while he has faced 1,522 hitters in the majors. His ERA is 3.41 (145 ER's allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.018. He has surrendered 318 hits (7.5 hits per 9 innings) and has had 71 free passes.

The Cardinals hold a team slugging percentage of .383 and they are scoring 4.35 runs per outing (15th in the league). They have put up 76 doubles, while getting a free base 183 times as well as putting up 235 runs. St. Louis has accumulated 60 home runs on the season and 228 runs batted in. They have struck out on 438 instances (23rd in the league) and have a total of 433 base knocks. The St. Louis Cardinals have accounted for an OBP of .318 as well as a batting average of .238 so far this year.

The St. Louis pitching staff have surrendered 245 runs so far this season while holding a team ERA of 4.22 (228 earned runs relinquished). They have surrendered 58 home runs and they allow 4.54 runs per 9 innings (17th in the league). The Cardinals have a team WHIP of 1.370 in addition to having a FIP of 4.30 as a unit this season. Their K/BB ratio sits at 7.70 (414 strikeouts vs 198 bases on balls). They come in at 24th in MLB as a pitching staff in total hits given up with 468.

Sitting with 72 save situations, the Cardinals have 43 holds and also 10 blown saves. St. Louis has called on relievers to enter the game in 27 save chances and they have earned 17 saves. St. Louis bullpen pitchers have an inherited score percentage of 35.3% of 85 inherited base runners. Their relief pitchers have come in 66 times in high leverage situations in addition to 60 occasions with base runners. They sit at 16th in the league with a save percentage of 63.0%, and they have sent 190 relievers onto the diamond so far this year.

The St. Louis Cardinals have gotten 54 double plays and have a fielding percentage of .987 (14th in pro baseball). The Cardinals have racked up 517 assists, 26 errors and have notched a total of 1,460 putouts over the course of the season. In their 4,380 innings played, the Cardinals have a defensive efficiency of 69.4% (22nd in professional baseball).

Leahy (10-7 win-loss record in his career) is the owner of a 3.87 ERA and has given up 8.7 hits per 9 innings. His K/BB ratio is 2.42 and he has gone up against 798 opposing batters so far in his pro baseball career. He has given up a total of 81 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.312 and a FIP of 3.8. During his MLB career, Leahy has allowed 182 base hits while he has accumulated 157 strikeouts in 188 innings.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take St. Louis (+132)

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