Cubs vs. Pirates Betting Odds, Pitching Matchup – May 18, 2024

The Chicago Cubs (25-20) are favorites (-178) on the moneyline when they take on the Pittsburgh Pirates (20-25) Saturday at 2:20 PM ET, live on MARQ. Chicago’s Shota Imanaga gets the start, and he’ll go against Pittsburgh’s Bailey Falter.

Here is our betting primer for this tilt, and uncover all of our MLB betting picks, too!

Cubs vs. Pirates Betting Lines

• Favorite: Cubs (-178)
• Underdog: Pirates (+150)
• Over/under: 8

Cubs vs. Pirates Betting Insights

• The Cubs have come away with 10 wins in the 17 contests they have been listed as the favorites in this season.
• Chicago has been a -178 moneyline favorite on four occasions this season and won every time.
• The moneyline set for this matchup implies the Cubs have a 64% chance of coming away with a victory in the contest.
• The Pirates have been the moneyline underdog 26 total times this season. They’ve gone 13-13 in those games.
• Pittsburgh has played as a moneyline underdog of +150 or longer in just one game this season, which it won.
• Based on this matchup’s moneyline, the Pirates have an implied win probability of 40%.

Cubs vs. Pirates Hitting Leaders

• Nico Hoerner leads Chicago with a .269 batting average.
• Including all hitters in baseball, Hoerner is 208th in home runs and 188th in RBI.
• Christopher Morel leads Chicago in home runs with nine and runs batted in with 29.
• Connor Joe leads the Pirates in runs batted in (22) and has a team-high batting average of .285.
• Joe ranks 55th in homers and 53rd in RBI among all hitters in the majors.
• Bryan Reynolds has 12 doubles, a triple, five home runs and 24 walks while hitting .250.

Cubs vs. Pirates Pitching Rankings

• The Cubs have an 8.7 K/9 this season as a pitching staff, eighth-best in baseball.
• The Cubs have the 11th-ranked ERA (3.72) in the majors this season.
• The Cubs have a combined WHIP of 1.285 as a pitching staff, which ranks 17th in MLB.
• The 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings put together by the Pirates pitching staff ranks 13th in the majors.
• Pittsburgh has the 16th-ranked team ERA among all MLB pitching staffs (4.03).
• The Pirates average baseball’s 14th-ranked WHIP (1.275).