The Chicago Cubs continue their West Coast swing as they close out a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night. The Cubs dropped the first two games of the set and are looking to avoid the sweep. They have Drew Smyly on the mound, who has provided solid work in the Cubs rotation this year. On the other hand, the Angels will go with lefty Reid Detmers, a youngster who has disappointed despite having a solid prospect pedigree. Fortunately for bettors, Detmers’ shakiness is creating some value on home run props at FanDuel, so let’s dive into Thursday night’s Cubs-Angels series finale to make an MLB prediction and best bet.
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Best MLB Cubs-Angels Betting Pick & Prediction: Yan Goes Yard
Cubs-Angels Odds
Odds via: FanDuel Sportsbook
Cubs: +112 | Angels: -132
Over 9.0: -108 | Over 9.0: -112
The Cubs lineup is vastly improved from a season ago. They added Dansby Swanson in the offseason and have seen huge improvements from Seiya Suzuki and Nico Hoerner. Those changes and steady hitting from Ian Happ, Patrick Wisdom and minor league callup Christopher Morel have kept them afloat in the NL Central standings. The Cubs have not been world beaters, but they have been consistent.
Chicago’s continuity at backstop has helped as well. It returned Yan Gomes, who has always had a solid bat. He is projected to bat seventh in Thursday’s game, and it should be strong matchup for him against Detmers. Gomes already has seven home runs this season, which is on pace to be his highest output since 2019, when he played for the Washington Nationals.
Most important is that the price on Gomes’ home run prop at FanDuel is just too low. You can buy him to hit a home run for +630, which has a 9% ROI in OddsShopper market-based betting model. The algorithm identifies the sharpest sportsbooks for MLB prop bets to figure out the appropriate win chances for every bet. In this case, Gomes has about a 15% chance of putting one over the fence, which means the true odds should be +571. The 29-cent advantage is the best MLB bet in this game.
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Best Cubs-Angels MLB Pick: Yan Gomes Over 0.5 Home Runs (+630, FanDuel Sportsbook)