Baseball Night in America on FOX gives us a fun midwestern clash between the Chicago Cubs (3-4) and the Cleveland Guardians (5-3).
The Cubs will look to even the series score after dropping the first game 4-1 last night. Cubs SP Shota Imanaga (4.51 xFIP in 2025) and Guardians SP Slade Cecconi (4.09 xFIP in 2025) will clash in the starting pitcher matchup.
The first pitch for Saturday’s Cubs vs. Guardians showdown is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET. Chicago is listed as the favorite with a 1.72x payout if it wins, per PrizePicks Team Picks.
Below, we’ll break down our Cubs vs. Guardians prediction and picks for tonight's game. Make your MLB picks on PrizePicks and earn real money if you’re right, including on game winners, spreads, and totals!
{{mlb_offer_banner="/style-system/ui-components-playbook"}}
Cubs vs. Guardians Prediction, Spread, Over/Under
It’s been a poor start for the Cubs, who will be looking to take the NL Central crown back from the Milwaukee Brewers. They’ve rotated wins and losses to begin the season. Coming off a loss, will that trend continue for Chicago?
The offense has struggled and is clearly missing the thump of OF Seiya Suzuki, who suffered a PCL strain during the WBC and started the season on the 10-day IL. Seiya has been rehabbing in AAA and is expected to return to the lineup within the next few days.
The Guardians have started the season on a high note as they look to repeat as AL Central champs.
Victorious in back-to-back games, they’ve been buoyed by the debut of rookie OF Chase DeLauter. DeLauter started the season with a bang, homering in his first three games, but then suffered an injury scare after fouling a ball off his foot vs. the Dodgers.
Fortunately, the injury was not serious, and DeLauter was right back in the lineup for the Guardians home opener yesterday.
Cubs vs. Guardians Spread, Over/Under
The Guardians enter Sunday’s game as home underdogs, returning a 2.08x payout on PrizePicks Team Picks if they win outright.
The Cubs are road favorites with a 1.72x payout if they win, via PrizePicks Team Picks, where you can earn money with your picks in 35 states.
- Spread: Chicago Cubs -1.5 (2.22x payout)
- Over/Under: 7.5 Runs (1.78x payout on over)
- Game Winner Payout: Cubs 1.72x | Guardians 2.08x
Team Picks data is live at the time of writing and is subject to change.
Cubs vs. Guardians Prediction to Win – 4/4/26
Here are the key stats to know before locking in your Cubs vs. Guardians MLB prediction for the game winner on Saturday, April 4, on PrizePicks.
- Cleveland had an 89-76 (53.9%) run line record last season, the seventh-best record in the MLB.
- Chicago, on the flip side, had a run line record of just 79-91-0 (46.5%).
- The Guardians had the lowest BABIP in the league last year at .268, according to FanGraphs.
- This suggests that Cleveland may have been unlucky with batted balls put into play and could be due for some positive offensive regression this year.
- Shota Imanaga had a 3.73 ERA but a 4.51 xFIP, suggesting he was the beneficiary of good luck, something that could regress this season.
- Chicago’s offense has been downright awful to start the season, ranking 27th in the MLB in wRC+ (30) and fourth in K% (30.3%).
Cubs vs. Guardians Picks for PrizePicks Today: 4/4/26
Here are the top Cubs vs. Guardians picks to target for Saturday, April 4, on PrizePicks. Today’s MLB picks for PrizePicks are headlined by Cubs SP Shota Imanaga and Guardians SP Slade Cecconi.
Cubs SP Shota Imanaga vs. Guardians Projection: 5 Strikeouts
- The Guardians have been striking out more recently than in years past, ranking 10th in the majors with a K% of 26.0% so far.
- The Cubs will likely need the extra length from Imanaga; their bullpen has been heavily taxed to start the season, and the longer Shota can go, the better for Chicago.
- Shota went over his strikeout projection in his last matchup and had some very impressive peripherals to go along with it.
- He had a whopping 19.5% whiff rate, which was way up from his 11.9% swinging-strike rate from last year.
- Imanaga threw 82 pitches in his season debut, so pitch count could be no issue here.
{{mlb_offer_banner="/style-system/ui-components-playbook"}}
Guardians SP Slade Cecconi vs. Cubs Projection: 4 Strikeouts
- As mentioned, the Cubs' offense has been reeling to start the season, ranking fourth in K% through the first week.
- Cecconi threw 93 pitches in his first start, so he could be good to go for as long as possible tonight.
- Slade went over his strikeout projection in his last matchup and had above-average numbers in that matchup.
- He had a 79.2% first-strike percentage and a 71.4% outside zone contact percentage, which were stark improvements on his 65.5% FStr% and 53.5% O-contact % from 2025.
Make Your Cubs vs. Guardians Prediction on PrizePicks
Will the Guardians continue their hot start to the season on their quest to repeat as AL Central champions? Or will Chicago even the season series with a big early-season victory vs. Cleveland?
You can make Cubs vs. Guardians picks on PrizePicks and PrizePicks Team Picks to earn real money. Just pick MLB players, predict More or Less on their projected stats, and cash in if you’re correct. And with Team Picks, you can make predictions on winners, spreads, and over/unders, now available in 35 states.
Stick around with the Playbook for continued MLB predictions, picks, and news throughout the 2026 season.
