Pittsburgh Pirates vs Chicago Cubs Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 08/16/25

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs play another afternoon game at Wrigley on Saturday. The Pirates won on Friday with a ninth-inning homer by Jake Suwinski, extending the struggles for the slumping Cubs. The Cubs have lost 7 of their last 10 and have now fallen considerably behind the Brewers in the NL Central. The problem for the Cubs has mostly been on offense, where they have flat disappeared of late. Despite all of that, Chicago is installed as a heavy favorite, beyond the point where we can reasonably back that side. On the other hand, I’m not sure I want to back the Pirates, either. With both teams playing poorly, especially on offense, I am going to pivot to the game total Under 9.

The pitching situation should be good for both teams. The Cubs are going with Shota Imanaga, who is probably their best starter. He has only faced the Pirates once this season, and he held them scoreless. Of course, that’s not uncommon. The Pirates will go with hand the ball to Mike Burrows. Personally, I like this guy a lot. He is a power pitcher who needs to rebound from a couple of rough starts where he was victimized by the long-ball, but the only time he faced the Cubs he threw 5.1 innings of 1-run baseball at Wrigley Field while striking out 8 in the process. The evidence would point to both pitchers having a strong 5 or 6 innings and giving us a real shot at the under. I’ll take that on what appears to be a mild day at Wrigley.

Pirates vs Cubs Prediction: Under 9 (-105) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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