Chicago Cubs vs Cleveland Guardians Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 04/04/26

Shota Imanaga did strike out 7 Nationals in his season debut for the Cubs, but the southpaw hurler allowed 2 walks, 6 hits, and a home run resulting in 4 earned runs in just 5 innings of work. Imanaga has been prone to allowing home runs in his career, and wind is blowing out today at Progressive Field around 13 MPH. That wind could be problematic for Imanaga, as he tends to fill the upper half of the zone with fastballs quite often. Cleveland has not had the greatest start to their season offensively, but they do have some firepower able to get to a flyball pitcher.

Slade Cecconi made his season debut in a tough matchup against the Seattle Mariners. Seattle has one of the better lineups in the sport, and they were able to get to Slade early and often in that matchup. Cecconi allowed 3 walks and 6 hits in his 4.1 innings of work, allowing 6 of those base runners to cross home plate. On paper, Cecconi is the lesser of today’s starting pitchers, and he is also tasked with facing the tougher lineup, in my opinion. Chicago did lose Kyle Tucker this offseason, and they are dealing with injuries at other spots, but they still have a ton of offensive firepower. Given the current pricing on today’s posted game total, I lean towards the over on 8 runs being scored.

Cleveland Guardians vs Chicago Cubs prediction: Over 8 (-105) available at time of publishing. Playable to -110 odds.