Andrew Wilsher

Both the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies enter this series with a 7-8 record. Both teams are coming off a series loss, but I find it more likely that the Phillies regain form. Chicago was fortunate to avoid the sweep from Pittsburgh on Sunday, winning dramatically on a walk off after trailing by 5 runs. They did not impress me too much in that series, striking out a ton at the plate while sporting a so-so bullpen. Javier Assad is the scheduled starter for Chicago on Monday as the right-hander looks to make his 2nd start of the year. Assad tossed 5.2 scoreless frames against the Rays in his season debut but is not someone I have been fond of betting on over the years. I don’t love his inability to gain whiffs, especially if dealing with runners in scoring position.

Christopher Sanchez, on the other hand, is someone I love to bet on. The Phillies southpaw starter has taken over the role of the team’s ace this season with Ranger Suarez in Boston and Zack Wheeler still injured. Sanchez posted a 2.50 ERA across 202 innings last season while recording 212 strikeouts. He was dominant with earning ground balls, and his low walk rate helped him remain efficient. Chicago is currently just 16th in wOBA against southpaw pitching while the Phillies are 6th in that category against right-handers. Look for the Phillies to open this series with a multi-run win.

Cubs vs Phillies prediction: Phillies -1.5 (+118) available at time of publishing. Playable to +115 odds.

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The Los Angeles Angels will look to keep their offense rolling as they head to the Bronx to take on the New York Yankees. The Angels are coming off a series win against the Reds, while the Yankees were just swept by the Rays and now have lost six of their last seven games. Taking the mound for the Angels will be left-handed Yusei Kikuchi who enters with a 0-2 record and a 6.75 ERA. For the Yankees, Will Warren will get the nod who is 1-0 with a 3.07 ERA. 

Offensively, the Yankees have struggled over the last week, hitting just .172 as a team and averaging three runs per game in their last six. As for the Angels, they’re hitting slightly better, batting .219 and averaging 5.3 runs per game. There’s no denying that the Yankees have struggled offensively this season, and it’s not going to get any better until they make some significant changes with their lineup. However, Kikuchi has struggled on the mound this season, and he could be vulnerable against the heart of the Yankees order featuring Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Ben Rice, and Giancarolo Stanton. Still, this is a steep line for the Yankees given their recent struggles, and the Yankees are batting .113 against lefties this season, which is the worst in the majors. Taking everything into consideration, I think the Angels are more than capable of keeping this game close, even with Kikuchi on the mound.

Angels vs Yankees prediction: Angels +1.5 (-135) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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Both the Cleveland Guardians and St. Louis Cardinals come into Monday off embarrassing losses. The latter dropped their home game to Boston 9-3 on Sunday, while the former had a much worse result – losing 13-1 to the Braves in Atlanta. There’s no need to recap each performance, just know both were ugly. However, despite the losses, both teams are still above .500 when they meet on Monday night in St. Louis. 

Taking the mound for Cleveland will be Gavin Williams, who has been pretty good this year. Williams boasts a 2.04 ERA with a 1.08 WHIP and is 1-1 in his 3 starts. He pitched 12.2 innings in his last 2 starts combined, holding the Dodgers and Royals to 3 combined hits and 1 combined earned run to go along with 18 strikeouts. That said, he has allowed 14 walks through 17.2 innings pitched. If it weren’t for those walks, his WHIP would be even better.

Williams will oppose lefty Matthew Liberatore, who has been just fine himself. His ERA and WHIP aren’t gleaming (3.38 and 1.50, respectively), but the Cardinals are 3-0 in his starts despite him not having a win himself. He held the Mets and Rays to 2 combined earned runs on 10 hits in his first 2 starts, while his most recent start was his worst – surrendering 4 earned runs on 9 hits to the Nationals.

Despite the mutually strong starts to the season, both of these pitchers are likely to regress. Williams is still the better pitcher, but his 2.04 ERA is somewhat of an anomaly compared to his 3.61 xERA, 3.50 xFIP and 4.16 SIERA. Liberator has the same problem but worse. His 3.38 ERA may look better than his actual performance considering he has a 5.54 xERA, a 4.71 xFIP and a 4.80 SIERA. Combine that with the fact that St. Louis is forecasted to be 86 degrees today with wind blowing out at 15 mph, and you’ll probably agree we should expect to see some runs scored on Monday night.

Guardians vs Cardinals prediction: Over 8 (-105) at the time of publishing. Playable to -110. 

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The dog days of the 2025-26 NHL season are upon us, where some games have massive playoff implications, others have none at all, and the odd few have the perplexing draft lottery implications where both organizations would be better off losing the game. Still, the players don’t adhere to that belief, and the coaching and management staff subtly set their teams up for failure. We are facing that reality on Monday night with a couple of games, with one of the main ones being the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers matchup.

The Panthers already had one of those games this week when they went to Toronto in a must-lose game with a skeleton crew. If the Panthers had lost to the Maple Leafs in that game, their chances of landing a top-five pick would’ve risen substantially, but their two points put them up on the Leafs and closer to the 7-9 range. Of course, they could always win the draft lottery, but losing their final two games would certainly help things.

The New York Rangers, sitting in third-last in the league, are in a similar position. If they win this game, they’ll go to fourth-last by passing the Calgary Flames, and be in danger of also passing the Leafs before the season is over. It is in the best interests of both franchises to lose, but one team has a clear edge in this game.

All the Panthers injuries helped them tank the season, but the Rangers have been rolling out their usual lineup down the stretch. The Panthers went all-in on the tank against Toronto and still found a way to win, but I don’t think that happens twice in a row. The Rangers already beat the Panthers 3-1 late in March when both teams were in tank mode, and I think they do it again here on the road.

Rangers vs Panthers prediction: Rangers ML (-135) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number. 

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The recipe is simple for the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night – win against the Carolina Hurricanes and they are in the playoffs. It won’t be easy going up against a Hurricanes team that is the second-best offensive team and eighth-best defensive team in the NHL. The Hurricanes don’t have too much left to play for as they more or less have the top spot in the Eastern conference locked up. Netminder Dan Vladar is projected to get the start in goal for the Flyers. He has been very good recently, with a 4-1 record in his last five starts and he only allowed one goal against in each of those four wins. Head coach Rick Tocchet will have the Flyers fired up and ready to go right from puck drop, and I expect the home crowd to have the building rocking.

This game means a lot more for the flyers and I expect them to get it done and punch their ticket to the playoffs. There is some good value on the Flyers in a must-win game with home ice advantage on their side. Give me the Flyers in this one.

Hurricanes vs Flyers prediction: Flyers ML (-105) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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Not long ago, the Seattle Kraken were in the thick of the Western Conference playoff battle. However, they have stumbled down the stretch and are now eliminated from playoff contention. Seattle is just 6-12-2 since the beginning of March, and is now 3-5-2 over its last 10 games. On the other side, the Kings continue to surge and enter this matchup holding the 2nd wild card spot in the west. Los Angeles has just 21 regulation wins on the season, which is truly a bizarre sight to see for a playoff team. Nonetheless, the Kings continue to find a way under interim head coach D.J. Smith.

Los Angeles enters this game riding a 4-game win streak and has won 5 of its last 6 games. The lone loss came in a shootout against Nashville on April 2. The Kings have revenge on their minds in this matchup, as the Kraken have won all 3 of the previous meetings between these teams this season. All 3 games have been close, with Seattle winning by scores of 3-2 (OT), 3-2, and 4-2. It’s tough to beat a division rival 4 times in a row in a season, especially when that team is still playing with a high sense of urgency fighting for a playoff spot. Despite their struggles against the Kraken this season, I expect the Kings to win this matchup.

Kings vs Kraken prediction: Kings ML (-150) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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