Cubs vs. Padres Player Prop Prediction, Odds: Top Picks for Merrill, Musgrove, Suzuki
Cubs vs. Padres Player Prop Prediction, Odds: Top Picks for Merrill, Musgrove, Suzukiiv class=”bodyContent col-lg-9 mb-3″>

Chicago continues its West Coast road trip with another showdown in San Diego, and we're offering our top Cubs vs. Padres player props based on the best MLB  odds.

Both the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres have performed as expected, based on their preseason projected win totals. 

The Cubs were trading at a total hovering around 85 wins and own a 6-4 record through their first 10 games. Meanwhile, the Padres are 6-7, right around that .500 mark that most of our sites with the best sportsbook promos projected them to finish the season at.

Neither team is expected to make much noise come playoff time, but San Diego does feature a couple of MLB MVP odds contenders, with both Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado looking to make an impact in this series.

First pitch from Petco Park is expected for 10:05 p.m. ET (Fubo ), and Joe Musgrove is set to take the mound for the home team. Opposing him is rookie Ben Brown, who will make his first major-league start following a strong performance out of the bullpen on April 3.

Here are our best Cubs vs. Padres player prop prediction and MLB picks (odds via our
best MLB betting sites; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Cubs vs. Padres game info & odds

  • When: Tuesday, April 9
  • First pitch: 10:05 p.m. ET
  • Where: Petco Park, San Diego, Cal.
  • How to watch: MLB TV, Fubo
  • Favorite: Padres (-140 via Betway)

Cubs vs. Padres player props

  • Jackson Merrill Under 0.5 total bases (+150 via bet365) ???
  • Joe Musgrove Under 5.5 strikeouts (+116 via FanDuel) ???
  • Seiya Suzuki Over 0.5 home runs (+675 via BetMGM) ??

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Cubs vs. Padres prediction

San Diego Padres center-fielder Jackson Merrill is off to a strong st art this season, and he remains firmly among the group of contenders by the MLB Rookie of the Year odds in the NL.

Merrill owns a .324/.405/.459 slash line through 13 games, providing the Padres with a talented option to man the outfield alongside Tatis. However, we're seeing value on his total bases Under for Tuesday's game.

All of our best sports betting sites have Merrill Under 0.5 total bases priced similarly, but only bet365 is offering odds better than the +145 found elsewhere. That's important because it's only these +150 odds that provide us with better than 10% positive expected value on the Under, based on the combined projections from two of our trusted models.

Additionally, there's always the risk that Merrill goes Under this total simply due to a lack of plate appearances, and his low slot in the batting order could provide pivotal for this bet on Tuesday.

Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove has struggled to begin the 2024 campaign.

First, he was rocked by the World Series odds-favorite Los Angeles Dodgers in the Seoul Series, and he gave up four runs on eight hits in his second start against the San Francisco Giants. He managed just five strikeouts across those first two appearances.

Musgrove seemed to right the ship in his last start against the St. Louis Cardinals, going six strong and striking out seven. However, St. Louis owns the seventh-highest strikeout rate in the league (25.5%) while Chicago is much more stingy. The Cubs strike out at the seventh-lowest rate in the majors at 19.2%, illustrating the gap between Musgrove's last opponent and this one.

Even at his best, Musgrove is more of a strikeout-per-inning pitcher rather than the one who managed 10.08 K/9 in 2021. His projection for Tuesday is right in line with that, too.

Across two of our trusted projection models, Musgrove's average strikeout projection is 5.71. When we run that number against these +116 odds at FanDuel, we're getting roughly 7% +EV. All of our other best sports betting apps have this total listed at 6.5, but you're getting lower expected value based on their odds, making the additional punchout not worth it.

Our final pick for this game is only a two-star bet, but that's because of the level of risk that comes with any home run prop. Therefore, you should adjust your wager accordingly.

Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki had somewhat of a rough rookie campaign, failing to live up to the hype of being among the favorites to win that season's Rookie of the Year Award. However, he bounced back in a big way in 2023, and thus far he's carried that momentum into this year.

Suzuki has two homers already through h is first 10 games, and he owns an impressive .289/.383/.526 slash line.

We're riding with Suzuki to stay hot on Tuesday, mostly because of these odds at BetMGM. Comparatively, DraftKings prices a Suzuki home run at +600, which offers us just 32.5% +EV based on Suzuki's projections. Meanwhile, this +675 price provides us with nearly 47% +EV. 

You should cut your wager down to around 0.25 units, but this is a home run prop worth betting on.

Cubs vs. Padres player props made Tuesday at 11 a.m. ET.

Here are our best MLB betting sites:

  • Caesars Promo Code: SBRBONUS1000 | Read our Caesars Review
  • BetMGM Bonus Code: SBRBONUS | Read our BetMGM Review
  • bet365 Bonus Code: SBRBONUS | Read our bet365 Review
  • BetRivers Promo Code: SBRBONU S | Read our BetRivers Review
  • FanDuel Promo Code | Read our FanDuel Review
  • DraftKings Promo Code | Read our DraftKings Review

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Related pages

  • Best Sports Betting Sites | Best Sportsbook Promos (U.S. only)

  
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