Cubs vs. Nationals Odds & Betting Predictions - August 30, 2024

Follow On X: https://x.com/PicksOffice Shota Imanaga had proved to be the mainstay of the Chicago Cubs because he had great control and was effective on the mound. With an ERA of 3.08 in 140.1 innings, he had shown that he was pretty consistent in not allowing any runs, and the Cubs could bank upon him in any match. This effectiveness is further illustrated by his 1.06 WHIP, further showcasing his ability to keep baserunners at a minimum-a key ingredient to keeping the scoreline low. The 24.6% strikeout rate is pretty good by Imanaga, showing that he is able to take care of outs on his own without having to rely too much upon his defense. This is important at times when contact needs to be minimized in an attempt to preserve a lead or keep a game within reach. Even more impressive is Imanaga's walk rate, which sits at just 3.9%. This small a percentage of free passes decreases the chances of unwarranted runs, a key part of any type of pitcher's success, but especially in close games. His ability to induce weak contact is further evidenced by his .295 xwOBA and .243 xBA, both of which come in well below league average. This suggests that even when batters do manage to make contact, they are not logging quality hits against Imanaga. In addition, Imanaga excels at making swings outside the strike zone highly likely, up to the 96th percentile for chase rate. That usually leads to either strikeouts or weak contact, so typically speaking, that helps to keep offense against him lower. Jake Irvin gets the start for the Nationals and enters with a season ERA of 3.80. Sure, August has been a mixed bag thus far - the last start against a high-powered lineup in the Atlanta Braves saw him limit the damage to just two runs over 5 1/3 innings. That Irvin was able to dance through a tough Braves lineup with limited damage indicates he could similarly get through a potent Cub lineup that has been inconsistent, especially on the road. The Nationals offense is significantly underwhelming over the last five, averaging only 3.77 runs per game. While they have a bunch of exciting young prospects like Dylan Crews and James Wood in their lineup, it's still a developing one that mostly sees particularly inconsistent performances against right-handed pitching. Too much so, apparently, seeing as how they've managed to hit just .244 against it. This is compounded by the fact that their supporting slugging percentage is low at .398, combined with an inability to consistently ensure extra-base hits, averaging just 0.8 doubles per game without any triples. These statistics reflect an offense that struggles to score runs, enabling an offense of necessity in situations that call for clutch hitting. Offensively, the numbers are a little deceiving for Chicago. Even with the recent surge, the team's season-long batting average is .239, while ranking 20th in the league. An OPS of .709 is middling at 15th in MLB, which would suggest that though they can have big games, they also go through stretches of offensive ineffectiveness. Notably, the Cubs have struggled when they face solid pitching. A case in point was the 0-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this month on a shutout. The match underlined their susceptibility with well-thought-out and well-performed pitching strategies. The Cubs bullpen has been nothing short of brilliant over the last five games with an ERA of 2.05, while the WHIP is 1.14. Opposing hitters are batting an even .200 against the Cubs, and all their relievers have done one of the most important things: shut down extra-base hits-the real key to the majority of big innings. This is major for the Under 8.5, because in those instances in which a game gets off to a somewhat hot start to begin with, the Cubs do have a very decent bullpen that could shut it all down and keep overall runs in check.