Arizona Diamondbacks at Chicago Cubs 7/25/21 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Arizona Diamondbacks travel on the road to Wrigley Field to close out a series against the Chicago Cubs. Chicago has fallen apart in the last month as the bats have gone cold, the bullpen has struggled and after a loss in game two of this series dropped to 48-51 and will likely be sellers in the next week leading up to the deadline. The Diamondbacks have the worst record in the MLB this season but have won four of their last five games and improved to 31-69 with the win, still well out of the playoff picture in the NL.

The Cubs bats have struggled this season hitting just .226 as a team, ranking 28th in team batting average and are 20th in scoring offense averaging just 4.21 runs per game. One of the players likely to be moved is third baseman Kris Bryant who is hitting a team-high .262 and has 48 RBIs on 16 homeruns. Shortstop Javier Baez is leading the way with 22 homeruns and 64 RBIs, but has continued to strike out at a high rate.

The Cubs will hand the ball to right-hander Trevor Williams who is struggling this season with a 5.68 ERA and 1.62 WHIP in 52 innings of work. Williams has dealt with injuries this season and has struggled since coming off the IL, he’s pitched 8.2 innings in his last two appearances allowing 11 runs on 13 hits with just six strikeouts. 

Arizona has been a better offense than their record would show but is still in the bottom half of the MLB hitting .235 as a unit and scoring 4.18 runs per game, ranking 21st in the MLB in both categories. Third baseman Eduardo Escobar has been one of the only bright sports leading the team with 22 homeruns and 65 RBIs, both of which lead the team.

Caleb Smtih will get the ball to start for the Diamondbacks, he’s continued to struggle this season coming in 3-6 with a 4.38 ERA on the year. Smith started the year in the bullpen before being promoted to the fifth spot in the Diamondbacks rotations and has had his ups and down, allowing 9 runs on six in including three homeruns but bounced back with a solid 6 ⅔ outing allowing just two runs against the Pirates.