San Francisco Giants vs. Chicago Cubs Prediction: Can the Cubs Win With Willson Contreras Trade Looming?

San Francisco Giants vs. Chicago Cubs Prediction: Can the Cubs Win With Willson Contreras Trade Looming?

Although the Giants had 13 hits yesterday, the Chicago Cubs defeated the Giants, 4-2, in the second game of a four-game series. The Giants are starting to come around, but they ended up losing a game where they had 13 hits and scored just two runs. That's inexcusable. Meanwhile, the Cubs will be looking to reshape their roster. Willson Contreras and Ian Happ likely won't be on the roster in the near future. But for now, those guys are still putting on a Cubs jersey. Make sure to monitor the trade deadline before placing a bet on any game in the MLB before the trade deadline. You never know what can take place. Anyway, here are our picks, predictions, and odds for Saturday's game between the Chicago Cubs vs. San Francisco Giants.

Giants vs. Cubs Start Time, Where to Watch, and Odds

• Date: July 30, 2022
• Game Time: 9:05 pm ET
• Where to Watch: NBCSBA, MARQ

Click Here for Giants vs Cubs Odds

Giants vs. Cubs Injury Report

Giants

 Out: C Curt Casali (Oblique) 3B Evan Longoria (Hamstring), SS Brandon Crawford (Knee), OF Joc Pederson (Concussion)

Cubs

Out: OF Michael Hermosillo (Quadriceps), OF Jason Heyward (Knee), 2B Nick Madrigal (Groin), SS Andrelton Simmons (Shoulder)

Giants vs. Cubs Line Movement

San Francisco Giants vs. Chicago Cubs Prediction

Drew Smyly will take the hill for the Chicago Cubs tonight. He's a left-handed pitcher with a 3-5 record along with a 3.93 ERA on the season.

In the last 30 days, Smyly has had a 4.99 xFIP with just 16.4% of strikeouts. He's now allowing a ton of power, which has been nice, but he's taking on a Giants lineup that has crushed lefties in the last 30 days.

With their projected lineup, the Giants have a .281 ISO and wOBA of .373 against lefties in the last 30 days. Only Austin Slater and Brandon Belt have struggled against lefties in the last 30 days for the Giants.

San Francisco has still struck out 23.6% of the time against lefties in those 30 days, but against Smyly, that number could get lower once this game is finished. The Giants are also hitting 23.2% of line drives, which is solid, especially if the Giants are going to limit strikeouts.

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On the other hand, Jakob Junis will get the call for the Giants. He's 4-2 with a 2.98 ERA on the season, but the reality is, he's been just as bad as Smyly in the last 30 days.

Junis has had a 5.38 xFIP in the last 30 days with just 14.3% of strikeouts. He's also allowing nearly 23% of line drives and inducing under 41% of ground balls. He's also allowing 54.5% of hard contact. None of that is good. But he's taking on a Cubs lineup that hasn't performed consistently at all against righties. The Cubs' projected lineup has hit a .139 ISO and wOBA of .316 in the last 30 days against righties. As mentioned yesterday, Willson Contreras and Cristopher Morel are the only two batters hitting for power in the lineup for the Cubs. And again, Morel bats in the nine spot, basically giving him one less plate appearance than Contreras, for example.

The Cubs still hit 24.9% of line drives against righties but also strike out 22.3% of the time. With Junis struggling to earn strikeouts, the Cubs do have some potential. But I'd rather take the Giants, knowing that they've hit lefties way better in the last 30 days than the Cubs have against righties in that same time frame. Plus, what if Ian Happ and Willson Contreras are traded before today's game? You just never know what could happen.

I'll the Giants on the moneyline here.

San Francisco Giants vs. Chicago Cubs Pick

• Giants (-135) (Bet $135 to Win $100)

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