Cubs and Stroman Should Shine vs. Rangers

Rangers vs. Cubs, 2:20 ET

It wasn't a very pretty day for me in baseball yesterday, going just 1-2. The Sox game that I liked a lot blew up in my face in an astounding fashion. They ended up losing the game by 10 runs in a 16-6 loss. Lance Lynn looked terrible, so maybe I'll need to observe a few more of his starts before I get back onto him being in a rhythm for the season. Now we are going to go across town and focus on the other Chicago team.

The Rangers are one of the teams that made more of a splash in the offseason than other organizations. A year after they stole Corey Seager away from the Dodgers, they took Jacob deGrom away from the Mets. In a bit smaller of a move, but still important, they were able to steal Nathan Eovaldi away from the Red Sox. More on this in a second. So far, the Rangers look like they are a solid team. Their pitching staff has a 3.50 ERA through six games and their hitters are doing some pretty good things to start the year. Adding deGrom should lower any team's ERA, but no matter how you slice it, this is the hope Texas had for starting their season. Now, I am not a fan of Eovaldi, I think he is a bit overrated and overvalued in the market. He's not a bad pitcher, but I also don't think he is consistent enough to be someone that you want to back every five days. The Cubs aren't an intimidating offense, but they should be able to make contact on Eovaldi.

The Cubs were able to get an extra day off in the early season as their last game against the Reds was postponed. I am not sure the offense really wanted to leave Cincinnati because, in the two games they were there, they put up 18 runs. On the other side, the pitching staff is probably happy to be gone because they allowed 12 runs in the series. Now they turn to the ace of their own staff, Marcus Stroman. He turned in a beautiful performance in his opening game against the Brewers. He was able to hold Milwaukee to no runs over six innings and just three hits. He did walk three hitters as well, but I think he should be able to control that a bit more as the season goes on. There has been some success against Stroman from two hitters on the Rangers, so if you're interested in player props, look at Marcus Semien and Brad Miller.

I like the Cubs in this one. You're telling me I can get Stroman for -125 to win the first five innings of the game and all he has to do is outduel Eovaldi? Sign me up. Last year it was a struggle at Wrigley for Stroman for most of the season, but something has clicked and he has been very good there. I'll back the Cubs through five. Full game is fine too if you prefer to take about five cents less juice.

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