Chicago Cubs at San Francisco Giants 7/28/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions

By: Lance |

Last Updated: 07/27/2022 at 10:24 PM ET

The Chicago Cubs have come out of the All-Star break red-hot, winning their first five straight games and will look to keep that going as they head to San Francisco to take on the Giants. San Francisco is trending in the opposite direction having lost their last five games and are now trailing the Dodgers by 16.5 games. Chicago snapped an 11 game losing streak right before the break, and have now won their last four, but still remain 14.5 games back of the NL Central lead.

The Giants offense is one of the best in teams in baseball this season averaging 4.74 runs per game ranking 5th in the league in scoring offense. It’s a balanced offensive attack with a ton of production coming from different places, third baseman Wilmer Flores is leading the team with 53 RBIs. Joc Pederson is in the midst of a career year leading the team with 17 home runs and is hitting .246 which would be a career-high.

The left-handed Alex Wood will take the mound for the Giants, he’s had some ups and downs and has struggled to work deep into games. Wood allowed two runs on four hits and struck out six but survived just 4 innings in his last start, as the Dodgers beat the Giants 4-2. It’s been one of the worst recent years for Wood as he enters his 30s, and could be a sign of regression looming.

The Cubs offense is young, and they could be sending out key players Ian Happ and Wilson Contreras before the August 2nd deadline. Third baseman Patrick Wisdom has been an awesome young addition for the Cubs, filling the hole left by Kris Bryant, and leads the team with 17 home runs and 47 RBIs. Chicago is a middle of the pack offense averaging 4.33 runs per game ranking 18th in the MLB in scoring offense, but you can find out more about the MLB and who is scoring at our MLB picks page.

The left-handed Justin Steele will get the start for the Cubs and the 27-year-old is another exciting young prospect. Steele is 4-6 with a 4.02 ERA on the year, and hasn’t worked deep into games in large part due ot the walks. Steele has issued 41 walks and struck out 81 in 87.1 innings of work this season, but is coming off a strong start allowing a run on four hits in a dominant 15-2 win over the Phillies.
 

These two teams are trending in opposite directions with the Cubs coming out of the break red-hot and the Giants struggling to get anything going. This is where the paths begin to revert back to the average with the Giants picking up a win to open the series. Alex Wood has had some struggles this season, but he settles down and works his way through a Cub lineup that has plenty of question marks surrounding key-players. Final score prediction, Giants win 6-4.
 

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