Kyle Tucker headlines the top prop picks for the late-night Opening Day game between the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.
The pregame narrative: Tucker was the Cubs’ prized offseason acquisition and can be had at a big plus-money price to deliver with his bat tonight. I also have a play on Chicago starter Justin Steele.
Check out my Cubs vs. Diamondbacks prop picks for Opening Day.
Cubs vs. Diamondbacks prop picks
Best bet: Tucker over 0.5 RBI (+185)
Diamondbacks ace Zac Gallen is no slouch. You can say that about nearly every pitcher taking the mound today.
But getting a hitter as talented as Tucker at this price is a no-brainer play for me.
- Tucker was third in the majors in RBI from 2021-23, and he had 49 in 78 games last season.
- He produced back-to-back 100-plus RBI seasons before last season’s injury-plagued year.
Tucker slugged .585 in 2024 and has a career mark of .515.
The 28-year-old had a brutal spring and went 1-for-8 in the Tokyo Series but didn’t strike out and cashed this prop once.
None of that really matters to me, though. Tucker is a power bat and upper-echeclon hitter in the game, batting behind some solid OBP guys who should put him in a position to cash.
Ian Happ is the expected leadoff hitter (.348 OBP over the last three seasons) and will likely be followed by Seiya Suzuki (career .353 OBP). That’s how the Cubs drew up their lineup for the Japan games vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers.
RotoWire projects Tucker batting second vs. the right-handed Gallen, which would zap some value here. But I’m comfortable at this price, even if he is moved up in the order.
Key stat: Tucker is 10th in the majors in ISO (the percentage of hits that go for extra bases) since 2021.
Prop prediction
Steele under 15.5 outs (-120): The lefty made three spring starts, maxing out at 62 pitches (according to MLB.com).
He then pitched in one of the Japan games, throwing 67 pitches over four frames.
Now, eight days later, he’s tasked with facing a dangerous Diamondbacks club on the road.
Arizona ranked second in MLB in wRC+ versus southpaws last season. The lineup looks largely similar in 2025, though lefty slugger Josh Naylor has replaced the right-handed hitting Christian Walker.
The Diamondbacks had MLB’s fourth-lowest strikeout rate in 2024 and were fifth in walk rate.
Steele is a good arm who possesses solid K and walk rates, but this is simply a difficult assignment early in the season for a pitcher who isn’t fully built up.
The lefty went under this line in his first three starts last year.
Cubs vs. Diamondbacks prop picks made at 2:35 p.m. ET on 03/27/2025.
Chris joined NorthStar Gaming from Covers.com where he was a publishing editor and wrote betting content. Before that, he was the sports editor at VICE Canada, worked for theScore and covered the Blue Jays for MLB.com. In addition to filling out the lineup card each day for the editorial team, Chris writes frequently himself, primarily on the NBA and MLB.