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DJ Herz heads to the mound for the Washington Nationals as they host the Chicago Cubs. It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Cubs-Nationals prediction and pick.
Cubs-Nationals Projected Starters
Javier Assad vs. DJ Herz
Javier Assad (6-4) with a 3.15 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP
Last Start: Assad went seven innings, giving up six hits, a walk, and two home runs. He would surrender three runs in a loss to the Marlins.
2024 Road Splits: Assad is 3-3 with a 3.96 ERA in 12 starts on the road. he has a .254 opponent batting average on the road as well.
DJ Herz (2-6) with a 3.84 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP
Last Start: Last time out, Herz went five innings, giving up one hit and three walks. He would not give up a run, but took the no-decision against the Braves.
2024 Home Splits: Herz is 2-4 at home with a 3.59 ERA in nine starts. He also has a .235 opponent batting average at home.
Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Cubs-Nationals Odds
Chicago Cubs: -1.5 (+118)
Moneyline: -134
Washington Nationals: +1.5 (-142)
Moneyline: +114
Over: 9 (-118)
Under: 9 (-104)
How to Watch Cubs vs. Nationals
Time: 4:05 PM ET/ 1:05 PM PT
Article Continues Below
TV: MARQ/MASN
Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)
Why The Cubs Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Cubs are 15th in runs scored this year, while sitting 20th in batting average, 12th in on-base percentage, and 17th in slugging. Ian Happ led the way this year. He is hitting .241 on the year with a .346 on-base percentage. Happ has 23 home runs and 72 RBIs. Further, he has stolen 11 bases and scored 74 times. Seiya Suzuki is also having a solid year. He is hitting .278 on the year with a .350 on-base percentage. Suzuki has 19 home runs and 64 RBIs while scoring 62 times on the year. Rounding out the top bats on the year is Cody Bellinger. Bellinger is hitting .267 this year with a .326 on-base percentage. He has 13 home runs, 55 RBIs, and has scored 54 times.
Chrisitan Bethancourt has been great in the last week. He is hitting .571 over just two games. Still, he has a double, a home run, and eight RBIs in his two games. Meanwhile, Seiya Suzuki has been great in the last week. He is hitting .464 in the last week with two doubles, a triple, and three home runs. He has eight RBIs and nine runs scored. Miguel Amaya has also been great. He is hitting .556 in the last week with a home run, eight RBIs, and six runs scored. The Cubs have hit .323 in the last week with 63 runs scored in six games.
Only one member of the Cubs has an at-bat against DJ Herz. Christian Bethancourt is 0-2 with two strikeouts.
Why The Nationals Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Nationals are 21st in the majors in runs scored while sitting 14th in batting average, 15th in on-base percentage, and 23rd in slugging. CJ Abrams is having a solid season. He is hitting .245 on the year with a .316 on-base percentage. Abrams has 18 home runs and 62 RBIs. Further, he has stolen 27 bases and scored 73 times. Luis Garcia Jr. is also having a solid year. He is hitting .290 on the year with a .326 on-base percentage. Garcia has 15 home runs and 63 RBIs.
Further, he has stolen 21 bases and scored 48 times. Rounding out the top bats of the year is Keibert Ruiz. He is hitting .220 on the year with 12 home runs, 46 RBIs, and 40 runs scored.
Jacob Young has been great in the last week. He is hitting .450 in the last week with a home run, two RBIs, two stolen bases, and five runs scored. Also having a solid week is Dylan Crews. He has hit .364 with a home run, a stolen base, two RBIs, and a run scored since his call-up. James Wood has also been solid in the last week. He is hitting just .200 but has an RBI, two runs scored, and four stolen bases this week. The Nationals have hit .251 in the last week, but have scored just 20 runs in the last six games.
Current Nationals have just three at-bats against Javier Assad. CJ Abrams is one for two while Luis Garcia is 0-1.
Final Cubs-Nationals Prediction & Pick
Javeri Assad has been solid as of late. He has a 2.84 ERA this month, and giving up three runs last time out, was the most runs he had given up this month. Herz has also been great this month. In five starts he has not given up more than two earned runs while having a 2.22 ERA this month. Still, the big difference in this game will be the Cubs offense. The Nationals have not been nearly as good at the plate. Take the Cubs in this one.
Final Cubs-Nationals Prediction & Pick: Cubs ML (-134)
