Kansas City Royals vs Chicago Cubs Pick – 7/23/2025
Wednesday’s mid‑afternoon showdown at Wrigley Field features the Kansas City Royals taking on the NL‑leading Chicago Cubs. Both clubs have secured one blowout win over the other in this series so far. Who will win Wednesday’s rubber match? To find out who I like, continue reading to get my Royals vs Cubs prediction for this matchup.
Our Royals vs Cubs Pick
Pick: Chicago Cubs -1.5
Confidence: ★★★★☆
Get Your Bonus Bets: Use our DraftKings bonus code to bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets INSTANTLY, win or lose on this game. Just click the Claim Bonus button below to start!
Bet $5, Get $200 in Bonus Bets If Your First Bet Wins
Date & Time: Wednesday, July 23, 2025, 2:20 p.m. ET
Starting Pitchers:
Cubs — Colin Rea (8‑3, 3.80 ERA)
Royals — Seth Lugo (6‑5, 2.94 ERA)
Stadium: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Broadcast: Marquee Sports Network, FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City
Key Storylines
Pitching form
Colin Rea has made 16 starts He has struck out 70 batters in 97 innings. He is allowing a hit per inning and has a higher WHIP than you’d like to see. But he could have a strong outing against an inconsistent Royals lineup here.
Seth Lugo owns a tidy 2.94 ERA with 93 punchouts in 107 innings. He’s thrown five innings in eight consecutive starts and has secured 10 quality starts.
Bullpen usage
Chicago’s bullpen enjoyed a clean outing on Tuesday. They allowed just two hits over the final two innings to finish a 6–0 shutout win.
Both bullpens are in the top 10 in bullpen ERA so far this season.
Recent team streaks
The Royals have won two of their last three games.
The Cubs have lost two of their last three.
These teams have split the first two games of this series in Chicago.
Best Player Props
Player
Prop
Seiya Suzuki
Over 0.5 Home Runs
Kyle Tucker
Over 1.5 Total Bases
Salvador Perez
Over 0.5 Home Runs
Betting Trends & H2H
The winner of this game will win the regular season series between these teams.
The Cubs are 26-20 in day games this year. The Royals are 20-21 in day games.
The Cubs are 33-18 at home on the season. Kansas City is 25-27 on the road.
Cubs vs Royals Model Projection
Score Projection: Chicago Cubs 6 – Kansas City Royals 3
Win Probability: Cubs 60%, Royals 40%
Final Thoughts
I am going to lay the runline with the Chicago Cubs in their rubber match with the Royals today. Lugo is a solid starting pitcher for the Royals and should be fine in this game. But the Cubs are stronger from top to bottom and should be able to get a win that would guarantee them at least a tie with the Milwaukee Brewers atop the NL Central at the end of the day.
Jay Sanin is a sports bettor, writer and broadcaster from New York. He is an avid New York Knicks fan and is no longer ashamed to admit it. He is also an avid New York Giants fan, and is very ashamed to admit it. His top sports to handicap are the NBA, WNBA and men’s tennis for some reason. He has watched more UAlbany Great Danes basketball than anyone should consume.
Affiliate Disclosure ATS.io features affiliate links to licensed online casinos, sportsbooks, and gambling platforms. That means if you click on them and end up signing up or making a deposit, we might earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only work with licensed and reputable online casinos, social casinos and sportsbooks. Our content whether it’s reviews, guides, or betting tips is written with the goal of being honest, helpful, and based on real experience. While we do earn through affiliate partnerships, it doesn’t affect our recommendations. If a site isn’t safe or doesn’t meet our standards, we won’t promote it. Simple as that. We also take responsible gambling seriously. We encourage all our readers to gamble safely, set limits, and know when to take a break. Have questions? Feel free to reach out. We’re always happy to chat.
Affiliate Disclosure ATS.io features affiliate links to licensed online casinos, sportsbooks, and gambling platforms. That means if you click on them and end up signing up or making a deposit, we might earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only work with licensed and reputable online casinos, social casinos and sportsbooks. Our content whether it’s reviews, guides, or betting tips is written with the goal of being honest, helpful, and based on real experience. While we do earn through affiliate partnerships, it doesn’t affect our recommendations. If a site isn’t safe or doesn’t meet our standards, we won’t promote it. Simple as that. We also take responsible gambling seriously. We encourage all our readers to gamble safely, set limits, and know when to take a break. Have questions? Feel free to reach out. We’re always happy to chat.
Jay Sanin is a sports bettor, writer and broadcaster from New York. He is an avid New York Knicks fan and is no longer ashamed to admit it. He is also an avid New York Giants fan, and is very ashamed to admit it. His top sports to handicap are the NBA, WNBA and men’s tennis for some reason. He has watched more UAlbany Great Danes basketball than anyone should consume.
Home›MLB Picks›Kansas City Royals vs Chicago Cubs Pick – 7/23/2025
Manage Consent
To deliver optimal experiences, we use cookies to gather device data. Your consent enables us to process information such as browsing habits. Withdrawing consent may affect the site’s functionality.
Functional Always active
Technical storage or access is essential to provide the requested service or facilitate communication over the network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
he storage or access is only for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
Storage or access is needed to create user profiles for ads or track users across websites for marketing.