The Los Angeles Dodgers take on the Chicago Cubs. Our MLB odds series has our Dodgers Cubs prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Dodgers Cubs.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are continuing to win games without getting the very best from Shohei Ohtani. He homered on Friday in the first game of this series, but on a broader level, we haven't seen him become the central engine of this loaded Los Angeles offense. Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez have had the hotter, bigger bats in the first week and a half of the season. The Dodgers still don't have Walker Buehler back in their starting rotation. They are not operating at full strength. Yet, they are 8-3 through 11 games. Just imagine how good this team can be when Ohtani gets locked in and begins mashing on a more consistent basis.

The Chicago Cubs are a solid 5-3 to start the season. They lost three straight against the World Series champion Texas Rangers but then responded by winning each of their next five games. The Cubs enter this season with a new manager, former Milwaukee Brewer skipper Craig Counsell. So many bad decisions were made last season by former manager David Ross. The Cubs missed the playoffs when they had a very good chance to play in October. The managerial change was warranted. The Cubs hope to win five or six extra games this season based on making better, sounder decisions in the latter innings, and also due to the manager slotting his hitters more smartly in the batting order.

Here are the Dodgers-Cubs MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Dodgers-Cubs Odds

Los Angeles Dodgers: -1.5 (+146)

Chicago Cubs: +1.5 (-178)

Over: 8.5 (-108)

Under: 8.5 (-112)

How To Watch Dodgers vs Cubs

TV: SportsNet LA (Dodgers) / Marquee Sports Network (Cubs) / MLB Extra Innings

Stream: MLB.tv

Time: 2:20 p.m. ET/11:20 a.m. PT

*Watch Dodgers-Cubs LIVE on fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Dodgers Could Cover The Spread

The Dodgers are 8-3 and haven't really hit their ceiling yet. That pretty much says it all. This team is really deep and loaded, and in the course of regular-season games with regular-season MLB betting contexts, the Dodgers are so hard to bet against precisely because someone different steps up all the time.

In this game, the Dodgers are facing Chicago's Japanese import, starting pitcher Shota Imanaga. While Imanaga was great in his MLB debut against the Colorado Rockies last week, we have to remember: It was the Rockies. That's a bad team. Imanaga, going up against Dodger hitters, figures to struggle a lot more than he did versus Colorado. That game also featured damp weather in which the ball wasn't carrying. If the conditions are appreciably different at Wrigley Field, it could be a very different outcome for Imanaga.

Why The Cubs Could Cover The Spread

The Dodgers are really good, but they're not playing consistently great baseball. Not all parts of the batting order are working, and we have already seen the Dodgers go deep into their bullpen due to the limits of their starting rotation, which has been plagued by injury and a lack of availability, carrying over from last year. The Cubs had their five-game winning streak broken on Saturday, so they were playing really good baseball heading into this weekend. This game gives them a chance to restart a winning streak. Shota Imanaga looked like the real deal against the Rockies. Pitching again at Wrigley could give him a comfort zone. He loves being a Cub and should be viewed as a pitcher who will throw well in this game.

Final Dodgers-Cubs Prediction & Pick

The Dodgers are very good, but so is Imanaga, by the looks of things. You can pass on this game.

Final Dodgers-Cubs Prediction & Pick: Dodgers -1.5