After getting to host the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend, the Cleveland Guardians went on the road to take on a different NL Central team - the Chicago Cubs - last night. While it may not be a divisional rivalry, it’s a series we expect to be a great one, so we’re here to follow up the series opener with our best Guardians vs. Cubs predictions.

That also means a best bet from our Guardians vs. Cubs picks, which we’ll help make even more exciting with a new, GUARANTEED DraftKings Sportsbook welcome bonus for a 30x boost to your bankroll.

Guardians vs. Cubs Predictions For MLB On ESPN, 7/2

With these two teams being in the Central divisions of opposite leagues, it’s not a clash that we see too often. In their lone series last year, the Guardians swept it in 3-0 fashion, and for bettors, covered the run line in two of three games.

That said, the Cubs have been one of the biggest positive surprise stories of the 2025 MLB season. Meanwhile, the Guardians are looking up a beastly hill to climb when it comes to catching the Detroit Tigers. Admittedly, that’s the case for most of the league, but regardless, it all adds up to what should be an exciting series.

As for this second game specifically, the starting pitcher matchup looks like it will have Cleveland starting on the back foot. However, before we fully spoil the best bet from our Guardians vs. Cubs predictions, let’s break things down.
 

 

 

Cleveland Guardians: Tanner Bibee 

For some fans, especially those in Ohio, seeing us state that today’s pitching matchup could favor Chicago may seem quite surprising. That’s because they have the luxury of starting ace Tanner Bibee on the mound today. While he may be labeled as such, coming in with a 4-8 record and nearly a 4.00 ERA is still far from elite.

Thankfully for his sake and the rest of the team, he’s coming off back-to-back games with seven and 10 strikeouts; however, the Cubs have a lineup that has proven to be one of the most difficult to ring up this year. For what it’s worth, Bibee had nine K’s in his lone start against them, but that was also back in 2023.
 

 

 

Chicago Cubs: Potential Trade Targets

We mentioned that the Cubs have been having a stellar season thus far, so with the trade deadline at the end of this month, it’s expected that they will be one of the bigger buyers out there. While not all of Chicago’s potential trade targets are exactly “breaking” news, they are still notable.

That’s especially true given that they’re not only starting pitchers, but recognizable ones. The top of that list would be a recent Cy Young winner in Sandy Alcantara. We could even see the Cubs go after a pair of Zac/h’s with Zach Eflin and Zac Gallen. There’s still plenty of time until the July 31 deadline, but it could be a busy month for Chicago.
 

 

 

How To Watch Guardians vs. Cubs Today

While it may not be the weekend finale of Sunday Night Baseball, this is indeed a matchup featured on ESPN. Here’s more info on how to watch Guardians vs. Cubs today:

  • Where: Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois
  • When: 8:05 PM ET on 7/2
  • Watch on TV: ESPN
  • Where to stream: ESPN+
     
 

 

Guardians vs. Cubs Odds, Spreads, Total & Betting Lines

No matter how significant the underdog or how massive the favorite, we’ve seen anything can happen in a long MLB season, and here are the latest Guardians vs. Cubs odds for today at DraftKings Sportsbook:

 

 

Guardians vs. Cubs Best Bet: Shota Imanaga Over 17.5 Outs (+100 At DraftKings Sportsbook)

Having already seen plenty about Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee, it’s time to turn our attention to the Chicago starter. Before even getting into our Guardians vs. Cubs predictions, we said that Shota Imanaga should give his team the edge, and that’s purely based on the matchup.

The Cubs' ace only recently returned to the mound, where we saw him improve to a 4-2 record thanks to a win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Now he gets to face a lineup that has been dreadful against lefties this year. The Guardians have the second-worst OPS in this regard - only the Baltimore Orioles have been worse.

The interesting dynamic is that while that is the case, Imanaga is not a strikeout pitcher, and the Guardians are actually strong at avoiding them. For example, Imanaga hasn’t exceeded four strikeouts in any of his last three starts. So, while his prop line is quite low due to that, we still prefer to stick with outs over Ks.

After all, he’s pitched 5+ innings in every single start this season, other than the Japan Series that was prior to the “true” Opening Day of the year. With such an advantageous matchup, we’re locking in Shota Imanaga over 17.5 outs (+100 at DraftKings Sportsbook) as the best bet.
 

 

 

Guardians vs. Cubs Injury Report & Starting Pitchers

As with any MLB team at this point in the season, there are at least some players on the injured list. However, regarding Guardians vs. Cubs injury news, these are some of the healthiest teams in the MLB. Outside of Cleveland’s Gabriel Arias’ very minor issue, daily starters are good across the board, and in Chicago, they have catcher Miguel Amaya on the 10-day IL.

While you’ve seen the names already, we’ve listed out the expected Guardians vs. Cubs starters for today below as well:

 

 

 

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