Miami Marlins at Chicago Cubs Betting Guide: Our MLB Best Bet for Friday, April 19

Cubs (-168 at FanDuel)

The 4-15 Miami Marlins will begin their 4-game series with the Cubs on Friday afternoon after having their Thursday game postponed. The Cubbies are currently 11-7 on the season and have won 4 of their last 5. Their latest was a 5-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

Cody Bellinger belted his 3rd home run of the season while Jordan Wicks went 4.1 allowing just 2 earned. The team is 6th in the league in total runs (101) and 7th in slugging percentage at .415. They will look to Jameson Tailon in this matchup with the fish.

Tailon is making his season debut for his 2nd season with the Cubs. Tailon finished last season with a 4.84 ERA which was the worst finish in his 7-year career. The Marlins will counter with AJ Puk, who is looking for his 1st win after going 0-3 to this point in the season.

Puk carries a hefty 5.91 ERA and has walked (14) more than he has struck out (8). Miami has yet to win a series this season after losing 2 games to 1 to the Giants earlier this week. Despite getting 5.2 innings of 1 run pitching by Trevor Rogers, it was not enough as the Marlins fell in the rubber game to the Giants 3-1 on Wednesday.

The Marlins are near the bottom of the league in every offensive statistical category. We are now almost 20 games into the season and Miami has cracked double-digit runs just once. While Tailon’s numbers a season ago were the worst of his career, this Marlins lineup could be a nice way to kick off his 2024 campaign.

The Cubs are hitting 11th in the league in batting average and OBP, which gives us confidence they will score enough to keep Miami from picking up their 5th win of the season. Let’s lay the big number!

Key Trends for Chicago

• CHI is 4-1 SU in their last 5 games.
• CHI is 8-1 SU in their last 9 games at home.
• Miami is 1-7 SU in their last 8 games against an opponent in the National League Central Division.
• Miami is 4-16 SU in their last 20 games.