Kenny G likes the OVER 7.5 at Wrigley despite Colorado’s under trend on the road. Chicago owns MLB’s highest-scoring offense, ranking third in OBP and second in batting average, and he thinks they can hang eight runs by themselves if the wind isn’t howling in. The Rockies are a miserable 3-23 away from Coors Field, and their staff has coughed up 5.6 runs per road game. Kenny expects a bounce-back from Matthew Boyd and trusts the Cubs’ 14-8-2 home over record far more than Colorado’s 18-8 road unders. With the Cubs slugging .460 at home and the Rockies’ bullpen leaking, he projects both clubs to get this one to at least eight runs more often than the posted total implies.

Dylan Rockford wants nothing to do with a straight-up –350 moneyline and instead laid the alt run line (-2.5) or attacked Chicago’s team total. His logic is simple: Wrigley has been a launching pad for this lineup—5.79 runs per game at home, second-best in MLB—and rookie Tanner Gordon now has to survive it in only his third career start. Rockford noted Colorado’s pitching hemorrhages 5.5 runs per game on the road and is an abysmal 1-15 straight-up vs left-handed starters, while the Cubs cash the run-line at a 54% clip (28-24) and regularly win by margin. With Matthew Boyd serviceable and the Rockies offense ranking bottom-five in road OPS, he projects a 6-1 type final and is comfortable pushing the handicap to –2.5 or simply betting Chicago’s team total over 4.5.

JDBetsHQ pounded the game total OVER 7.5, pointing to two hittable starters and elite Cubs bats. German Marquez faces a Chicago lineup littered with 1.000 OPS cells on the tout’s spreadsheet; Dansby Swanson (5-for-7, HR) and Jake Burger (5-for-10, HR) both slug above .900 in their limited histories. Marquez has improved in two straight outings yet still gives up 1.3 HR/9 and a 44 % hard-hit rate. On the other side rookie Cade Horton has just three MLB appearances (5.15 ERA) and recently served up three earned to the White Sox. Colorado is merely average, but they sit top-10 in doubles and strikeout the third-fewest in the league, which should keep traffic on the bases. With wind neutral, JDBetsHQ sees both clubs reaching four runs more often than not and calls 7.5 "way too low."

Jordan Cooper warned that Cade Horton projects as one of the most over-owned pitchers on the 11-game slate. SimLabs gives Horton only a 14% chance of landing in the optimal lineup (fourth-best on the board) yet expects him to draw roughly 29% DraftKings ownership. Cooper added that Horton’s projected 84-pitch limit is the lowest among the top tier of arms, capping his ceiling despite a 5.5 K prop (-145). Because value bats are plentiful, Cooper suggested fading or severely limiting Horton in tournaments and instead spending up for lower-owned studs or building leverage with Rockies bats against him.

For the 8:05 PM ET clash at Wrigley, Garofolo advised backing the Rockies +1.5 at +120. Despite the model showing only a 49.4% hit rate, the +120 price yields a 3.9% expected edge, enough for inclusion on his best-bets list. He stressed that in low-total, coin-flip spots, an underdog run line at plus odds can be profitable when the projection’s edge clears the 3% threshold.

Kingpin Sports took Cubs ‑1.5, highlighting German Marquez’s disastrous 7.66 ERA (1-7 record) versus Cade Horton’s steadier 4.40. They anticipate Chicago’s lineup pouncing early and never looking back.

Malcolm Bamford’s home-run dart lands on Seiya Suzuki, riding a matchup he’s already attacking via Cubs team totals. German Marquez owns an 11.12 ERA on the road and has been tattooed for five-plus earned runs in back-to-back away outings, surrendering a 51% hard-hit rate in the process. Bamford pointed out that Suzuki homered over the weekend, is slashing .298/.364/.532 at Wrigley this year, and has a .300 ISO versus right-handers who lean heavily on sinkers—exactly Marquez’s primary pitch. With winds projected to blow out at 8–10 mph, Bamford loves Suzuki at anything north of +400 to go deep and expects early-inning fireworks before Marquez can even sniff the fifth.

Lonte Smith doubled down on fading German Marquez, betting Chicago’s first-five team total over and a Yes-Run-First-Inning prop. Smith highlighted Marquez’s brutal splits—five-plus earned runs in five straight road outings—and pointed to the Cubs ranking top-10 in first-inning wRC+ at Wrigley. He also mentioned Colorado surrendering seven or more runs in six of its last 10 games while Chicago has plated six or more in six of nine. With Cade Horton still capped around 80 pitches, Smith prefers early-game derivatives that isolate Marquez’s innings. He expects Chicago to tag the right-hander quickly, projecting a 3-1 or 4-1 score after two frames and sees +105 on the Yerfi as a strong add-on.

Malcolm Bamford is passing on the bloated ‑320 money line and instead betting Chicago’s team-total over, expecting the lineup to punish German Marquez. Marquez has surrendered five or more earned runs in each of his last two road starts and now carries an 11.12 road ERA, while opponents are slugging .626 against him away from Coors. Bamford noted that the Cubs have scored six-plus runs in six of their last nine and just hung three on Monday even in a getaway-day lineup. Prospect Cade Horton has been solid but unproven, so Bamford prefers isolating the clear edge: Chicago’s sticks versus a pitcher allowing 51% hard-hit contact on the road. He projects the Cubs to clear five runs by the seventh inning.

Perrault’s second parlay leg rides the Cubs because of an extreme pitching split: German Marquez’s 11.12 road ERA. Marquez has coughed up 28 earned runs in 22.2 away innings and the Rockies are an abysmal 3-23 on the road overall. Meanwhile rookie Cade Horton is 3-0 in his Wrigley Field starts despite a 5.40 home ERA, and Chicago boasts a 16-10 home record. Sportsbooks have moved the run line to –2.5, underscoring how lopsided the matchup is on paper. Perrault recommended ignoring the run-line juice and simply tacking the Cubs moneyline onto the parlay to continue fading one of baseball’s worst travel teams.

While Game 1 stayed under, Cash Out Sports Picks likes Tuesday’s OVER. Six of the last 10 Cubs-Rockies clashes have cleared the total, and the Rockies’ staff is allowing nearly 6.5 runs a night over their last 10. Chicago’s league-best offense averages eight runs in that same span, and Colorado’s bullpen has been taxed. Even if the Rockies remain quiet, the Cubs could threaten the number on their own.

It's The Final Round backed Seiya Suzuki to record a hit (or clear his TB line) versus Marquez on May 27. Marquez’s primary slider (30 % usage) is getting tattooed for a .409 average, and his four-seam fastball has been even worse (.444). Suzuki owns a .313 mark against sinkers—the right-hander’s No. 2 pitch—and ranks ninth in MLB in sweet-spot rate (43.9 %), a launch-angle profile that fuels hard contact. Suzuki has hits in 10 of his last 11 games and no glaring pitch-mix red flags, so the tout labeled him a "love this opportunity" play despite no previous head-to-head history.

Kenny G recommends Chicago but prefers the –1.5 run line at roughly –145 instead of laying –330 on the moneyline. The Cubs own MLB’s top offense—1st in runs and AVG, 3rd in OBP and SLG—and are 16-8 at Wrigley. Rookie Cade Horton (4.40 ERA) has improved each time out, most recently holding Miami to one run over 5⅓. Even if he falters, a league-average 3.99 bullpen can bridge the gap against the worst road team in baseball. Colorado is an abysmal 3-23 away from Coors and has scored 1-4-1-3-0 runs in its last five. German Marquez sits at 1-7 with a 7.66 ERA while a 4.41 bullpen ERA offers little backup. Given Chicago’s offensive firepower and Colorado’s collapse, Kenny believes the Cubs win comfortably more often than not, though he stops short of labeling it his top play due to Horton’s volatility.

The handicapper is laying the run-and-a-half with Chicago. The Rockies have only nine wins all season and were shut out in Marcus’s last gem, illustrating how punch-less their offense is. Chicago has scored double-digit runs 12 times and owns an 8-2 head-to-head record (7-0 at Wrigley) versus Colorado since September 2023. With rookie righty Cade Horton continuing the parade of arms stifling the Rox, Cash Out Sports Picks predicts another lopsided Cubs victory.

Razzle recommended Jameson Taillon as a strong mid-tier play. Colorado owns the league’s worst road K-rate and the wind is blowing in at Wrigley, tamping down Taillon’s homer risk (he has allowed bombs in 8-of-10 starts but the only two homer-free outings came at Wrigley with similar conditions). Books hung a 6.5 K-prop (tied for second-best) and –135 win odds. Razzle expects six strikeouts and a quality start, making Taillon a reliable option in both cash and GPPs.

Jeff Erickson said it is time to cut or at least bench Ryan Pressly after digging into the underlying numbers. Pressly’s strike-out rate has cratered from 23.8 % last season to an ugly 12 % through 18 innings, and his swinging-strike rate has fallen in three straight years (17.7 % → 15.5 % → 12.5 % → 8.5 %). Whiff rate on the four-seamer slid from 18 % to 9 %, while the slider’s whiff rate was halved (30 % to 15 %). Erickson noted the Cubs used Pressly in the sixth inning last week, a clear sign the organization no longer trusts him in save situations. With no long-term financial commitment and Palencia currently closing, Erickson views Pressly as a luxury stash, not a must-hold, in anything shallower than 15-team formats.

Jeff Erickson urged managers desperate for saves to grab Daniel Palencia right now. Palencia has collected Chicago’s last two saves and has been deployed in classic ninth-inning leverage while Ryan Pressly tries to locate his missing fastball in the sixth. Erickson conceded Palencia’s 11 % walk rate keeps the WHIP shaky, but the role trumps the warts. He expects the Cubs to ride the hot hand because they owe Pressly nothing after this year and surrendered only a fringe prospect plus some salary relief to Houston. As long as Palencia holds the job, Erickson sees a month-long window for 6-8 saves that could swing tight roto categories.

Scott Jenstad advised loading up on Cubs hitters in both weekly lineup leagues and DFS cash games for Week 10. Chicago leads the majors with 25 more runs scored than the next closest offense and now gets six games against two pitching staffs ranked in the bottom five in ERA: three at Wrigley versus the Rockies and three in Great American Ball Park against the Reds. Jenstad highlighted that Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong are already driving in NL-leading run totals, and the lineup remains lethal one through nine. Colorado arrives with a 5.51 team ERA on the road, while Reds pitching just allowed back-to-back comebacks after conceding 17 runs over the weekend. With no weather concerns and the Cubs’ bats in peak form, Jenstad sees across-the-board category juice and recommends streaming any fringe Cubs bat—think Christopher Morel or Nico Hoerner—while also stacking them in DFS tournaments.

Dylan Rockford preferred isolating Chicago’s offense by betting the Cubs’ team total OVER, even with a 10 mph wind blowing in at Wrigley. He made Chicago a –300 favorite, citing Palmquist’s brutal game logs (5 ER, then 6 ER) and the Cubs’ elite .274 average versus left-handers. Chicago already averages almost six runs per home game, and Rockford expects 5–7 runs again. He avoided the full-game over because Colorado owns the league’s worst road offense (2.44 R/G) and the wind could suppress their limited pop, but he’s confident the Cubs clear their own number.

Scott Reichel laid –1.5 runs with Chicago and took the full-game over 8.5. Rookie lefty Carson Palmquist (0-2, 11.81 ERA) “isn’t any good,” and Reichel expects the Cubs—already averaging nearly six runs a night at Wrigley—to hang a touchdown on him. Chicago crushes southpaws (.274 team average), while the Rockies are a dreadful 3-22 on the road and score just 2.44 runs away from Coors Field. Reichel projected something like 7-2, believing even mediocre starter Jameson Taillon can hold Colorado to a couple and cash both tickets.

Just A Bet Outside pinpointed Seiya Suzuki for total bases or hit props. Suzuki has at least one hit in nine of his last ten games and leads MLB in batting average over the last seven days. He obliterates southpaws, batting .341 off lefties overall and .391 against them at Wrigley. Colorado rookie lefthander Palmquist gets the start, backed by a notoriously shaky Rockies bullpen. Even with the wind forecasted to blow in, the tout trusts Suzuki’s approach and expects him to continue raking.

Eric Lindquist backed the full-game UNDER 8.5 runs at Wrigley Field. He said Monday’s forecast calls for only light winds rather than the normal Chicago jet-stream, removing the usual run-scoring boost. Colorado rookie Carson Palmquist sports a microscopic 4.4 % K-rate and an ugly .409 xwOBA, so David Ross will keep him on a short leash (4.1 and 4.0 IP in his first two starts). That means a quick trip to a still-rested Rockies bullpen after multiple recent rain delays. On the other side, Jameson Taillon owns a 4.94 expected slugging mark, but Lindquist expects the Cubs lineup to do most of the damage while Colorado continues to struggle— the Rockies still have fewer than 10 wins on May 26. Lindquist concluded the market is overreacting to bad pitching names and has set the number “way, way, way too high.”

Kenny G recommended taking the Cubs on the run line at -1.5 (-152 on FanDuel), calling it a potential lock of the day. He pointed out that Chicago owns MLB’s No. 1 offense in runs scored, is second in batting average, and has hung 11, 4, 13, 2, 14, 7 and 6 runs in its last seven games. Jameson Taillon (3-3, 4.13 ERA) is coming off seven shutout innings against Miami, while the bullpen has improved to a 4.04 ERA. On the other side, 24-year-old Carson Palmquist has been “obliterated” in his first two big-league starts and now hands things to a Rockies pen carrying a 4.54 ERA. Colorado is last in batting average, last in OBP, 29th in runs and an MLB-worst 3-22 on the road. Kenny expects Chicago’s elite bats to feast on Palmquist and a weak bullpen, more than offsetting any late-inning leaks from the Cubs’ relief corps. He views the -152 price as likely to shorten and advised jumping early rather than laying the steep -330 moneyline.

It's The Final Round recommended building a correlated slip around multiple Chicago Cubs hitters because rookie left-hander Carson Palmquist has been pummeled in both MLB starts (11 earned runs on 12 hits in 8⅓ innings). Palmquist is allowing a .393 average to right-handed bats and an eye-popping .556 average to lefties. The Cubs have scored 11, 13, 14, 7, 6, 7 and 13 runs in seven of their last nine games, so another outburst is plausible. Suggested props: Nico Hoerner over 1.5 hits+runs+RBIs (hit in 7 of 9), Dansby Swanson over 1.5 hits+runs+RBIs (7 of 9), Kyle Tucker* over 1.5 hits+runs+RBIs (5 straight, 7 of 9) or a simple run scored at –120, and Pete Crow-Armstrong RBI at +159 (over in 6 of 9). The tout stressed pairing any two hitters near each other in the batting order with Suzuki, allowing one swing or rally to cash multiple legs.

It's The Final Round said Seiya Suzuki is the top prop target on May 26. The matchup is against Colorado left-hander Carson Palmquist, who has surrendered a .429 batting average overall and shows poor command of every pitch in his arsenal. Suzuki profiles perfectly: he grades out well against Palmquist’s second, third and fourth offerings and owns a 43.9% sweet-spot launch-angle rate that ranks ninth in MLB. He has at least one hit in nine of his last ten games and has cashed the following markets at a high clip: over 1.5 hits (9/10), over 1.5 hits+runs+RBIs (8/10), over 1.5 total bases (7/10), a run scored (4/5), and a single (5/6). The tout advised betting whichever of those props opens at a reasonable price (anything better than –175) because the combination of Suzuki’s form and Palmquist’s struggles makes positive regression likely.

Cash Out Sports Picks played the Under thanks to a projected 11-mph wind blowing in from the northeast—conditions that historically kill power at Wrigley. When the wind blew in vs Miami (May 12-14) Chicago totaled only 11 runs. Rockies remain brutal away from Coors (8-17 to the over on the road) and hit .195 in those spots. With the Cubs’ OPS dropping nearly 100 points at home versus road, the tout expects the weather to keep total runs in check.

Cash Out Sports Picks recommended Cubs to win comfortably, reminding listeners that Chicago is 32-21 and ranks second in OPS (.839) vs lefties, while Colorado is an abysmal 9-44 overall and .195 on the road. The Cubs have won seven of the last nine meetings—five by 3+ runs—and the Rockies enter on zero rest after a homestand, a brutal situational spot. Rookie Carson Palmquist hasn’t proven MLB-ready, giving the hot Cubs lineup a chance to pile on.

Eric Halterman identified Daniel Palencia as the Cubs reliever to grab for saves right now. Ryan Presley and Porter Hodge have ERAs north of 5.00, clearing the path for Palencia’s 2.16 ERA and 0.90 WHIP across 15 outings to earn ninth-inning chances. Though the 25 % strikeout rate and 11 % walk rate are merely average and a .171 BABIP hints at some luck, Stuff+ grades his 99 mph heater and wipeout slider as the best weapons in Chicago’s bullpen. Halterman doubts Palencia holds the job all season—Chicago could add a veteran at the deadline—but says fantasy managers hunting immediate saves should act before the committee firms up elsewhere.

Eric Halterman said Matt Shaw deserves to be re-added now that he is back from Triple-A and making contact again. Shaw slashed .286/.364/.606 with six homers and five steals in 24 games for Iowa, chopping his strikeout rate from 27 % in his April cup of coffee to just 10 %. Halterman expects only average power, speed and batting-average tools, so keeping the whiffs down is critical. Chicago still has almost no competition at third base, giving Shaw a long runway for everyday at-bats. In his first three games after the recall he recorded five hits, two steals and only one strikeout, reinforcing the idea that he can provide balanced roto production with secure playing time.

Erik Halterman advised trading for Brenton Doyle, noting the outfielder ranks third in MLB in Baseball Savant’s new Ideal Attack Angle metric (5–20 degrees) behind Corbin Carroll and Kyle Schwarber. Despite a bleak .208 average and .594 OPS that resemble his 2023 struggles, Doyle’s skills have actually improved: he cut his strike-out rate from 35% in 2022 to 25% last year and sits at 24% this season, while his barrel rate climbed from 9% to 11% to 13%. Halterman attributed the slow start to a mid-April quad tweak and a bereavement-list stint, not skill erosion. With elite attack-angle consistency, rising barrel rate, and sustained contact gains, Halterman sees Doyle as a classic buy-low for season-long fantasy leagues.