Jon Lester has had a really rough go of it of late for the Chicago Cubs (31-26 SU, +2.15 Units).
He hasn't had a good go of it this season against Sunday's opponent, the Cincinnati Reds (27-31 SU, -5.89 Units).
PITCHING MATCHUP
Lester's first season in the National League has brought out all sorts of warts about him. He still has yet to get the first hit of his big league career, and he has a miserable time trying to hold runners on. An ugly 4.25 ERA isn't doing him any favors either.
The southpaw has now allowed at least six runs three times this season, including in successive starts. His other six-run blowout came at the hands of these Reds back on April 13, a game in which Lester allowed 10 hits over just six innings of work.
Anthony DeSclafani isn't necessarily a man to trust in live betting either. Granted, he has won three straight starts, but two of those three outings have come against the woeful Phillies.
The young righty hasn't had any luck getting free outs this year, as he has just 41 strikeouts in 65 innings of work. Any time you have a K/9 under 6.00, you know that you're in a bit of trouble.
DeSclafani did strike out seven on Tuesday in his most recent trip to the mound, but he only had a total of one strikeout in his previous two outings.
Granted, the Cubs strike out a ton, an average of 9.66 times per game, so perhaps DeSclafani can pick it up just a bit. If he isn't though, these Chicago hitters are really dangerous and can blast the ball a mile, particularly if the wind happens to be blowing out at Wrigley Field.
ADVANCED STATS
The Cubs should have a real chance to succeed here, knowing that DeSclafani isn't going to set the world on fire with strikeouts. That should make the success rate for men like Addison Russell (34.2 strikeout percentage), Kris Bryant (30.3 strikeout percentage), Jorge Soler (32.8 strikeout percentage) and Dexter Fowler (23.1 strikeout percentage).
Chicago strikes out as much as any other team in the bigs thanks to these men in the middle of its order, but there is also a ton of talent here as well. Russell, Bryant and Soler can all put big time charges into the baseball when given the opportunity to do so, and DeSclafani is certainly amongst the men who could serve up some gopher balls.
TALKING BULLPENS
Part of what makes Aroldis Chapman so darn hard to hit is the fact that he very rarely gives up big time contact. Sure, he has allowed some runs of late, but his 45 strikeouts over 27.1 innings of work is no joke.
We'd love to see him not throw as many wild pitches (3) and walk fewer batters (17), but with his strikeout rate, we know that he is the opposite of DeSclafani and can really take advantage of hitters who have been seeing the ball float into the zone around 88-90 MPH over the course of the whole game. All of a sudden, that 100 MPH fastball is going to look and feel like it is coming in at around 105 MPH, and we would fully expect to see Chicago's batters fail miserably when that happens.
If Chapman gets into this game to close one out, know that you can safely wager on the Reds to finish things up.
The baseball betting odds for this game will first be available at BookMaker Sportsbook. BookMaker is going to have multiple betting options available for this baseball matchup. Live wagering during commercials offers and adjusted moneyline, individual inning run totals and next hitter results. Log in, and start gambling during the game now!
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago Cubs will start at 8:08 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 14, 2015 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL. The matchup will be televised nationally on ESPN.
