Written By: The Persian
The Los Angeles Dodgers get set to take on the Chicago Cubs in the first of a three-game set starting Monday night inside famed Dodger Stadium from Los Angeles, CA. They toss out the first pitch at 10:10 pm.
Bookmaker has installed the Dodgers - 195 on the ML.
The Dodgers have been arguably the best team in the majors since the start of the season. They have one of the most explosive lineups in all of baseball, as they have a bunch of players with serious power. You can easily make a case for several hitters for NL MVP, including DH Shohei Ohtani, who is running away with the award this season.
In his first season with the Dodgers, he has cracked a team-high 45 home runs while driving in a team-high 100 runs, and he is hitting a solid .289. He is now the face of the franchise and will be a must-watch at-bat every time he steps into the batter's bat once the playoffs roll around. Los Angeles has hit 193 home runs this season, hitting .254 as a team. The heart of their lineup is very dangerous, and if the Cubs' pitching does not settle in early, this could be an ugly series.
Los Angeles will hand the ball over to veteran hurler Walker Buehler. Buehler has a record of 1-4 and has really struggled this season. He has not won a game since May 18 against the Cincinnati Reds. The Dodgers have a team ERA of 3.86 on the season.
The Cubs tried to hang in there this season, but they have faded over the last month or so and will not make the playoffs. They are nine games back of the front-running Milwaukee Brewers, who are running away with the NL Central. The Cubs will look to add some more power to their lineup in the off-season, and they need to fix their pitching as well.
Left fielder Ian Happ leads the team in home runs with 23 home runs, but he is hitting only .245 in the season. As a team, the Cubs need to work on the counts more because they have shown zero patience on the plate. As a team, they have struck out over 1200 times this season. Five hitters have fanned 100 or more times, and they are not good enough to allow that to continue.
If they learn to show more patience at the plate, they can get runners on and then move them over. They also need to play small ball and learn to manufacture runs by stealing bases here and there. They will hand the ball over to Kyle Hendricks, who has been horrible this season. He takes the ball and steps on the mound with a mark of 3-11 to go along with an ERA of 6.80, which is the worst of his career.
The Dodgers are 3-2 in their last five games and 3-2 in their last five games against the number. They are also 3-2 in their last five games against the spread. They are a solid 33-37 in their road games against the number, too. The totals have gone over in two out of their last five games. The Cubs are 1-4 in their last five games and 1-4 in their last five games against the spread, and they are also 39-33 in their road games against the spread.
