The Chicago Cubs (45-29) host the Seattle Mariners (37-36) on Friday, June 20, 2025. First pitch from Wrigley Field is scheduled for 2:20 p.m. ET; the game will be broadcast on MLB Network.
It's been a down season for Mariners right-hander George Kirby thus far, but Friday represents a potential bounce-back spot for him and the Mariners.
Find my Mariners vs Cubs prediction and pick for the Friday series opener below, plus the latest MLB odds, betting trends and more.
Mariners vs Cubs Prediction, Picks, Best Bet
- Mariners vs Cubs pick: Mariners Moneyline +130 (Play to +105)
My Mariners vs Cubs best bet for Friday is the Mariners moneyline. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live MLB odds page.
Seattle Mariners vs Chicago Cubs Odds, Spread, Over/Under
| Mariners Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Run Line | Over/Under | Moneyline |
+1.5 -165 | 9.5 -115o / -105u | +130 |
| Cubs Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Run Line | Over/Under | Moneyline |
-1.5 +140 | 9.5 -115o / -105u | -155 |
Mariners vs Cubs Projected Starting Pitchers
| George Kirby (RHP) | Stat | Matthew Boyd (LHP) |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | W-L | 6-3 |
| 0.1 | fWAR (FanGraphs) | 1.5 |
| 5.96 / 4.48 | ERA /xERA | 2.79 / 3.57 |
| 4.31 / 3.14 | FIP / xFIP | 3.60 / 3.98 |
| 1.36 | WHIP | 1.17 |
| 20.9% | K-BB% | 16.5% |
| 43.7% | GB% | 36.4% |
| 99 | Stuff+ | 95 |
| 112 | Location+ | 105 |
Mariners vs Cubs Preview, Predictions
Mariners Betting Preview
George Kirby is one of the promising pitchers in baseball, but this season has not gone as he expected.
Thought by many as a Cy Young contender in the AL, Kirby started the season on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. He returned at the end of May and allowed 11 total runs in his first two starts back. In his third start, he got hit in the face with a 102.7 mph line drive.
Yeah, not fun.
Luckily, things have calmed down a little bit since then, and Kirby is beginning to settle in. He didn’t miss a start after getting hit in the face and set a career high with 14 strikeouts in the next game. He has allowed just two runs in each of the last three starts and looks more like himself.
Every year, it is the same story for Seattle. It needs its offense to do more. It looked like things were improving over the first month or so of the season, but things have started to backslide recently. Over the last 30 days, the Mariners are just 27th in scoring.
The one person who has not had any issues is catcher Cal Raleigh.
Seattle’s “Big Dumper” leads the majors with 27 home runs and trails only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani with a .995 OPS. The Mariners also get Julio Rodriguez in his better split against a left-handed pitcher.
Cubs Betting Preview
Flying under the radar, Matthew Boyd is very quietly having a great start to the season in Chicago. He is 6-3 in 14 starts with a 2.79 ERA, which is the best mark on the team.
He has allowed more than three runs in a start just once all year and is coming off allowing one hit in six innings his last time out.
Boyd is very similar to Kirby in that he relies on his great ability to locate pitches. He has a low walk rate and can paint corners with his fastball. He has just a league-average strikeout rate, but does get plenty of batters to chase his slider.
Chicago’s offense is among the best and most well-balanced in the league. The Cubs have scored the second-most runs and do just about everything well. The Cubs rank fourth in team OPS and sit top five in both home runs and stolen bases.
A big part of that is because of breakout star Pete Crow-Armstrong. With his 20th home run of the season yesterday, PCA is the only player with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases this year. He makes a lethal combination in the outfield with Kyle Tucker, whose .898 OPS is 13th in the league.
Mariners vs Cubs Predictions, Best Bet
This could be a good buy-low spot on Kirby. He was expected to be a dark-horse candidate for the Cy Young this year before starting his season on the injured list threw things off. He struggled in his first two starts off the injured list but has really settled in and looks more like himself.
Kirby has allowed just two runs in each of his last three outings and has a 3.18 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 17 innings over that stretch. His 5.96 ERA is a product of those early struggles. He has a 4.48 xERA on the year and a 2.46 xFIP in June.
Seattle’s offense has been a bit unlucky recently. Over the last 30 days, they rank just 27th in runs but sit ninth in wRC+. So, they should be creating more runs than they have been scoring recently.
Obviously, this Cubs offense is lethal, but they have cooled down a little bit recently. They rank just 23rd in scoring and 24th in OPS over the last two weeks. Michael Busch and Carson Kelly have really slowed down after coming out of the gates flying, and Seiya Suzuki is in a major slump.
Boyd has been terrific for Chicago, but he has just a league-average strikeout rate and his xERA at 3.57 is more than half a run higher than his current ERA. He is in the bottom 25% of the league in ground-ball rate and putting the ball in the air could mean trouble for Boyd with 15 mph winds blowing out at Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon.
Over the last two weeks, Seattle actually ranks much higher in wOBA and wRC+ than the Cubs, and I still have Kirby as the more talented pitcher in this matchup and like buying low on him after starting the year slowly.
Pick: Mariners Moneyline +130 (Play to +105)
Mariners vs Cubs Betting Trends
Mariners vs Cubs Viewing Info: Channel, Start Time, Streaming
| Location: | Wrigley Field in Chicago, Ill. |
| Date: | Friday, June 20 |
| Time: | 2:20 p.m. ET |
| TV / Streaming Options: | MLB Network, Marquee Sports Network, RootNW |
