The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals will do battle across the pond this weekend. The first game of the MLB London Series will get underway at 1 p.m. ET in London Stadium. We’ve got a whole lot of weirdness to get into for this matchup, so let’s dive into the Cubs-Cardinals odds for London as we make our predictions and pick the best MLB bet via DraftKings!
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Best MLB Cubs-Cardinals Betting Pick & Prediction: Back Left-Handed Power in London
Cubs-Cardinals Odds
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
Cubs: -130 | Cardinals: +105
Over 14: +100 | Under 14: -120
As you can tell by the total, the market expects London Stadium to be quite friendly to batters. It makes sense — there are 330 feet to the foul poles and only 392 feet to center field. That’s seven feet deeper than what we saw in 2019, but it’s still quite shallow. The power alleys measure 387 feet, only five feet deeper than 2019. No MLB stadiums measure shorter than 392 feet to center. The shortest two, Petco Park and Angel Stadium, measure 396 feet to center. The fence measures only 16 feet in center field and slopes down to eight feet in the corners.
The Chicago Cubs, listed as the visitors for this series, will start LHP Justin Steele (7-2). Steele’s impressive 2.71 ERA is just a bit higher than his still-impressive 3.12 xERA, although it’ll be hard to maintain that number in a ballpark such as this one. The St. Louis Cardinals will start RHP Adam Wainwright (3-1), whose 5.57 ERA and 6.11 xERA are far less impressive. Wainwright has given up three earned runs in his last three outings and has allowed no fewer than two in any of his starts this season. The 41-year-old veteran is also yet to go further than 6.1 innings.
Although the Cubs have the edge on the mound, the Cardinals have the edge on offense. St. Louis ranks tied for third in expected weighted on-base average, or xwOBA, at .339. Chicago ranks 12th at .324. The Cardinals’ .749 OPS slips slightly to .738 when they face LHPs like Steele, while the Cubs’ .727 OPS dips to .708 when they face RHPs like Wainwright. Chicago’s best offensive player by xwOBA, shortstop Dansby Swanson, wasn’t in the lineup for the team’s last game due to a wrist injury but should be all set for Saturday’s contest.
After getting cooked by attentive total bettors during the MLB’s last international series in Mexico City, the books have smartly planned ahead this time. The total is trading between 13.5 and 14, which is reasonably fair for a ballpark of these dimensions. Although the Yankees and Red Sox combined to average 25 runs (and five home runs) per game the last time the MLB came to London Stadium, the pushed-back walls should make for a meaningful difference.
The books may have sharply adjusted the total, but they haven’t been so sharp on the home run markets. We can get Cody Bellinger to hit a home run at odds of +450 (18.2%) at DraftKings Sportsbook. Bellinger has seven home runs with 7.2 expected home runs to his name this year, both of which rank third in Chicago’s lineup. Meanwhile, Wainwright has allowed six home runs and 6.8 expected home runs. Only three of Bellinger’s seven dingers have come against RHPs like Wainwright this year, but Bellinger crushed 17 home runs against RHPs in 2022.
Let’s lock Bellinger in for a home run — and more than 1.5 bases — before the market adjusts. New to DraftKings? Users who register via this link can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets instantly!
Best Cubs-Cardinals MLB London Pick: Cody Bellinger +450 at DraftKings
