Cardinals vs Cubs Odds, Picks & Predictions (Aug 25)

• The Cardinals vs Cubs odds favor St. Louis as -130 moneyline favorites on Thursday, August 25, at 2:20pm ET
• St. Louis will give the ball to Dakota Hudson (6-6, 4.33 ERA), while Chicago will counter with Marcus Stroman (3-5, 3.83 ERA)
• Read below for the Cardinals vs Cubs odds and betting prediction

Any doubt about the potency of the St. Louis Cardinals (71-52, 31-31 away) lineup was put to rest on Tuesday evening in Chicago. After scoring just one run through the first two games of their series with the Cubs (53-70, 27-37 home), St. Louis pounded 16 hits and crossed the plate 13 times in a 13-3 drubbing of their NL Central rival.

Oddsmakers are expecting another Cardinals victory on Thursday in the series finale, although perhaps not of the lopsided variety.

Cardinals vs Cubs Odds

Odds as of August 22 at Caesars Sportsbook. See available Caesars Sportsbook bonus code.

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St. Louis opened up as -130 moneyline favorites, in a contest that features a total of 9. First pitch is scheduled for 2:20pm ET at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois, with clear skies and 75 degree game time temperatures in the forecast.

St. Louis vs Chicago Probable Pitchers

The Cardinals, a top-eight World Series odds contender, will give the ball to Dakota Hudson . The 27-year-old has been one of the weakest spots in the starting rotation this season and enters play in sub-par form.

Hudson yielded five hits and four runs last time out versus Arizona, and owns a 6.08 ERA in three August starts. July didn’t treat him much better, as he boasted a 5.14 ERA over four starts. St. Louis lost each of those four contests, and has won only two of his past seven starts overall. He’s far from a big strikeout producer, and his walk rate has been spiralling out of control lately. Hudson has walked nine batters in his past 13 innings, while striking out only 12.

Dakota Hudson isn't a major league caliber pitcher. He's horrendous #STLCards pic.twitter.com/tLWUdztDGZ

— FIRE MO (@Rinedog1) August 21, 2022

He ranks in the bottom 15th percentile in MLB in exit velocity, strikeout percentage, whiff rate and hard hit rate, and last in chase rate.

Hudson vs Stroman Stats

The Cubs will counter with Marcus Stroman in Thursday’s MLB lineups. The 31-year-old has pitched very well since returning from a month long COVID-19 absence, but has struggled this season against the Cardinals.

He allowed five hits, three runs and two homers in his last meeting against St. Louis, taking a no-decision in a 4-3 defeat. In their previous meeting he was shelled for 10 hits and nine runs over 4 innings, coughing up three dingers.

Paul Goldschmidt vs Marcus Stroman#STLfly

Home Run 💣

Exit velo: 107.7 mph
Launch angle: 35 deg
Proj. distance: 420 ft

This would have been a home run in 28/30 MLB ballparks

CHC (3) @ STL (2)
🔻 7th pic.twitter.com/Ml2TQYO6oY

— Would it dong? (@would_it_dong) August 4, 2022

In five career starts versus the Cardinals, he owns a 5.53 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. He’s surrendered 19 runs in 27 innings, including seven home runs.

Cardinals vs Cubs Betting Trends

One player with an absurd track record against Stroman is NL MVP odds favorite Paul Goldschmidt. St. Louis’ first baseman is 6-for-13 lifetime versus Stroman with three homers, four extra-base hits and five RBI. Corey Dickerson and Albert Pujols have also crushed against the Cubs righty, combining to go 22-for-55, with three home runs and 10 RBI.

ALBERT PUJOLS IS SEVEN HOME RUNS AWAY FROM 700!! https://t.co/aaRqn9RoX0

— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) August 23, 2022

Speaking of Pujols, the 42-year-old is currently in the midst of one of the best stretches of his career, in the year he’s planning to retire. Entering this week’s series he was slugging 1.300 over his previous 10 games, the highest 10 outing stretch of his career. He went deep on Monday against Chicago, and is now just seven home runs shy of 700.

As if the Cards needed any more firepower, Stroman will also have to deal with Nolan Arenado. He boasts the second shortest MVP odds behind his teammate, and is fresh off a 3-for-4 outing on Tuesday which included his seventh home run this month.

Nolan Arenado hit his 7th HR during the month of August and his 26th of the season last night against the Cubs.

The Cardinals have 3 of 4 players who share the MLB lead with 7 HR in August (Arenado, Goldschmidt, Pujols); Max Muncy is the only other player with 7 HR this month. pic.twitter.com/uL3BzMuloE

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 24, 2022

Chicago can’t match that kind of firepower, but that doesn’t mean they can’t find success against Hudson. They should have no issues getting runners on base, it will just be a question of whether or not they can drive them in.

The bull case for the Cubs bats is that they’ve been playing some of their best ball of the season lately, Tuesday evening not withstanding. They’ve won six of their last nine and are on pace to hit over 30 home runs in a month for just the second time this season.

STL vs CHC Last 10 Meetings

Cardinals vs Cubs Pick

The first two games of this series fell well short of the total, while Tuesday night’s effort eclipsed the number by seven runs. Thursday’s over/under is set at 9, a number three of Hudson’s last four starts have sailed over. With him on the mound Chicago is more than capable of doing their part to help clear this total.

St. Louis on the other hand, has owned Stroman historically and rank top-four in MLB in virtually every key offensive category. Play the over.

Pick: Over 9 (-115)