The Marlins face the Cubs in Chicago! Our MLB odds series has our Marlins Cubs prediction, odds, and pick for Saturday.

The Marlins are another team in the race for the title of worst team in the MLB with a 4-15. Their bats have struggled up to this point in the season, ranking near the bottom of the MLB in team batting average. Their pitching has somehow been even worse than how their bats have been up to this point in the season. Bryan De la Cruz, Luis Arraez, Jake Burger, and Nick Gordon have been able to stand out despite the overall struggles as a team behind the plate. Trevor Rogers and Ryan Weathers have been okay at best on the mound for a pitching staff that is third to last in the league. The Marlins have struggled across the board this season and a matchup against the Cubs does not help in terms of them trying to get back on track.

The Cubs have started the season playing well with an 11-7 record. They are also 4-1 in their last five games.  Their bats and pitching have been okay at best to start the year, but it has not mattered and they have been just finding ways to win. On offense, Michael Busch and Seiya Suzuki lead the way on offense and have done the most damage behind the plate, but Suzuki suffered an injury to his oblique and is out for roughly four weeks. They have more players that can step up, but add it to the list of injuries so far. On the mound, Shota Imanaga and Javier Assad have been the pitchers that have stepped up the most with Justin Steele getting injured early and Kyle Hendricks having a rough season to start the year.

Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Marlins-Cubs Odds

Miami Marlins: +1.5 (-178)

Moneyline: +112

Chicago Cubs: -1.5 (+146)

Moneyline: -132

Over: 8 (-108)

Under: 8 (-112)

How to Watch Marlins vs. Cubs

Time: 2:20 pm ET

TV: Bally Sports Florida

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Marlins Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Marlins have not announced who they are going with on the mound yet, but based on the depth chart, Edward Cabrera should be set to start. Cabrera's only started one game this season and the Marlins lost. He pitched six innings and allowed one run on five hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts. Last season, Cabrera was decent with a 7-7 record, a 4.24 ERA, and a 1.44 WHIP. Cabrera could be a breath of fresh air for the Marlins based on how much the pitching staff has struggled up to this point in the season

The Marlins' offense has taken a nosedive to start the season after how well they were playing last season. They are 26th in team batting average at .216 after finishing last season with a .259 batting average which was top five in the MLB. The offense is led by Bryan De La Cruz, Jake Burger, and Luis Arraez. De La Cruz leads in batting average at .287 and in total hits at 23. Burger leads in RBI at 15 and is tied for the lead in home runs at three with Nick Gordon. Arraez leads in OBP at .353 after a near-historic season last year. They have a decent opportunity against the Cubs due to how injured the Cubs already are in their pitching staff.

Why The Cubs Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Cubs are putting Javier Assad on the mound where he has a 2-1 record, a 2.16 ERA, and a 0.96 WHIP so far this season. He has stepped up a lot with some of the injuries the Chicago pitching staff has already suffered. He has appeared in three games this season where the Cubs are 2-1 in those games. Last season, Assad was solid with a 5-3 record, a 3.05 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. The Marlins have gotten off to a slow start this season behind the plate, so this is a prime spot for Assad to play well due to Miami's struggles up to this point.

The Cubs' offense has slowly ramped up this season and they have hit their stride now. They are 11th in team batting average at .247 after finishing last season with a .254 batting average. The offense is led by Michael Busch mostly with Seiya Suzuki injured. Busch has stepped up even more with Suzuki out and Ian Happ and Dansby Swanson will see a lot more opportunities too. Busch leads the Cubs in almost every category behind the plate. He leads in batting average at .317, in home runs at six, in RBI at 13, in OBP at .400, and in total hits at 19. The offense has been bit with the injury bug just like the pitching staff, but this is a good spot for them to showcase their talent.

Final Marlins-Cubs Prediction & Pick

There is not much to like with the Marlins this season. Even if they go with Cabrera at pitcher, the Cubs have enough on offense to make him uncomfortable. The injuries for the Cubs are concerning, but they have not mattered as much up to this point and they should be able to overcome it in this matchup. Expect the Cubs to win going away thanks to Assad shutting down on the mound and a Cubs offense finding its stride.

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Final Marlins-Cubs Prediction & Pick: Cubs -1.5 (+146)