Chicago Cubs vs Washington Nationals

Chicago sends Shota Imanaga (3.60 ERA, 1.09 WHIP) against a TBD Washington starter — a massive pitching advantage on paper. The Cubs are the superior team at 69-50 (.580) vs. Washington's 59-61, and Chicago's offense has been productive at 5.16 R/G with Bregman and Hoerner both running hot 🔥. Washington's rotation being TBD compounds the risk for the Nationals, though their lineup does hit LHP slightly better (.261/.782). The Cubs' pitching edge and team quality gap justify a lean at -159, which is on the higher end of comfortable but still within the neutral-to-slight-negative value range.