Rangers vs. Cubs prediction and odds for Saturday, April 8 (Back Cubs at home)

The Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers continue its weekend series on Saturday at Wrigley Field.

One of the promising pieces of the Cubs young core, who will look to build on a stellar year in the bigs last season, pitching to a 3.18 ERA. The left hander will face a fellow southpaw in Martin Perez, who is still ascending after a career year in 2022.

Something has to give in this matchup between two formidable left handers. Here are the odds:

Rangers vs. Cubs odds, run line and total

Rangers vs. Cubs prediction and pick

Steele was a key cog to the Cubs rotation last season, posting a 3.18 ERA with a FIP that matches the eye test at 3.20. It was more of the same in his first start of the year, pitching six innings of shutout baseball as he posted excellent command, striking out eight batters and walking only one.

Perez also showed no slowing down from last season, holding the Phillies to one run over 5 2/3 innings after pitching to a 2.89 ERA last season. However, I entered this season with some concerns about Perez's ability to maintain his strong metrics given his FIP has indicated he may be getting away with some positive variance in the field. Each of the past three season's Perez has had a FIP higher than his ERA, indicating that he has gotten fairly lucky in the field.

I think this is the perfect time to pounce with Steele on the mound for the Cubs. While the Rangers have shown promise at the dish this season, the team is a year removed from checking in right at the big league average in terms of batting average.

I'll play the Cubs as small home favorite.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.