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

The Houston Astros have been the most shockingly bad team in Major League Baseball through the first 24 games of this 2024 season. They have plummeted to a 7-17 record, unthinkable for a team with so much proven veteran talent. It is true that injuries to starting pitchers Lance McCullers, Framber Valdez, and others, but even then, this is a team with Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman, and Jeremy Pena, all high-quality ballplayers with World Series championships and loads of postseason experience. It's not a surprise that the pitching is a mess with high-end arms on the shelf, but the Astros aren't even hitting. They got shut out by the Washington Nationals on Sunday and then managed only two runs against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday. They are doing nothing right. This is a team which has played in two of the last three World Series and came one win away from making it three straight trips to the Fall Classic.

The severe extent of the drop-off is the shocker. If Houston was 11-13 or 12-12, no one would have been too surprised, but 7-17 is mind-blowing. The Astros will need one very strong month of baseball — 20 wins in 30 games — just to get back to the .500 mark. This team is digging a hole for itself in much the same way the St. Louis Cardinals did last year. If the team can't stabilize, it will face a severe uphill battle in the second half of the season, and the margin for error will shrink to the extent that a playoff berth will become very unlikely. It's only April, but with each loss, the pressure grows on Houston to perform and rescue its season.

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

MLB Odds: Astros-Cubs Odds

Houston Astros: -1.5 (+176)

Chicago Cubs: +1.5 (-215)

Over: 7.5 (-115)

Under: 7.5 (-105)

How To Watch Astros vs. Cubs

TV: Space City Home Network (Astros) / Marquee Sports (Cubs) / MLB Extra Innings

Stream: MLB.TV

Time: 7:40 p.m. ET/4:40 p.m. PT

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

Why The Astros Could Cover The Spread

The Astros are going to be desperate entering this game. It's beyond belief to comprehend a world in which Houston is 7-17. Surely this team is going to bounce back, get on a roll, and work back to the .500 mark. This team lost a weekend series to the Nationals and then got hammered by the Cubs. The laws of averages have to enter the picture at some point. Houston isn't going to remain awful throughout the season. Some will say that the Astros aren't nearly as good without Dusty Baker as manager. Yet, what we're seeing with Houston is a lot less about Baker retiring, and a lot more about good players just not having a good month. There are too many good players on this team for Houston to continue losing at this rate.

Why The Cubs Could Cover The Spread

When the season began, no one thought the Astros would be this bad and this weak on such a consistent basis. Yet, they are. They aren't just losing; they're getting clobbered. They were blown out on Sunday by the Nats and again on Tuesday by the Cubs. They have been knocked out of the box several times this season. They're simply a horrible team right now, all while the Cubs have thrived under new manager Craig Counsell. Chicago is a better team, playing at home. What's not to love about betting on the Cubs?

Final Astros-Cubs Prediction & Pick

This is a stay-away game. Houston is playing horribly but is bound to snap out of its funk. Just pass on this one.

Final Astros-Cubs Prediction & Pick: Cubs +1.5