Arizona Diamondbacks vs Chicago Cubs Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 05/02/26

The Arizona Diamondbacks will look to bounce back after a 6-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs, but they’ll need a much better outing from Ryne Nelson, who enters at 1-2 with a 7.71 ERA through six starts. Chicago will counter with Shota Imanaga, who has been much better with a  2-2 record and a 3.15 ERA through six starts this season. 

Offensively, Chicago has been one of the more productive teams in baseball, ranking near the top of the league with a .777 OPS and averaging 5.5 runs per game. Arizona has been solid as well, ranking 9th with a .726 OPS and averaging 4.7 runs per game. Arizona is more than capable offensively to keep this game close, but my biggest concern is Ryne Nelson. Nelson had a strong start early in the season, but he gave up 14 runs in his last 5.1 innings pitched against the San Diego Padres and the Toronto Blue Jays. That’s a major red flag heading into a matchup against a disciplined Chicago lineup. This Cubs team is significantly better than the Padres and the Blue Jays, and I don’t expect Nelson to find much success against Chicago in this matchup. Look for the Cubs to have their way with this one and cruise to victory.  

Diamondbacks vs Cubs best bet: Cubs ML (-160) at the time of publishing. Playable to -180.