Free Pick | MLB | Thursday | April 23

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#903/904 UNDER 9 Philadelphia Phillies (Sanchez) at Chicago Cubs (Cabrera) 1:20 PM CT

The Cubs have hit lefthanders well this season but Christopher Sanchez is one of the top left-handed starters in MLB. After a great 2025 season in 202 innings, Sanchez has been even better so far in 2026 with a 1.59 ERA with a corresponding 1.70 FIP, while his K/9 is 12.4 five starts into the season. Sanchez is an elite groundball producer on his balls in play to limit any wind impact at Wrigley Field while Sanchez has dominated even with an extremely high .413 BABIP this season. The Phillies are just 8-16 this season as an extreme disappointment due to scoring only 3.4 runs per game this season. In the past 10 games Philadelphia is batting just .226 with 3.2 runs per nine, taking an eight-game losing streak into the fourth game of this series with only 16 runs scored in those eight losses. Philadelphia has allowed big scoring in a few of the games on that run but in Sanchez starts the Phillies have allowed three or fewer runs three times. Sanchez did start against the Cubs 10 days ago in Philadelphia in a game that finished with a 13-7 Phillies win but Sanchez allowed only two runs in six innings before a late scoring flurry on both sides. Edward Cabrera and Sanchez will likely be teammates on the NL All Star team as Cabrera has a 2.38 ERA in four starts. He is yet to allow a home run and has pitched extremely well in his Wrigley Field starts. The Cubs have a 2.70 bullpen ERA in the past 10 games, and the Windy City looks relatively calm Thursday afternoon with low-scoring likely on a getaway day for both teams.