MLB Baseball BETTING PREVIEW - Colorado Rockies @ Chicago Cubs

MLB Baseball

2026-06-15 - Colorado Rockies at Chicago Cubs

A Sports Betting Preview by FirstDown

Colorado Rockies @ Chicago Cubs
United States : Major League Baseball
Monday 15th June 2026 - Scheduled 8:05pm EST
01:05am (British Time)

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Preview

Putting a winning record on the board in mid-June should keep Major League Baseball teams on track, but some are carrying bigger expectations than others and even being above 0.500 may not be enough for the fanbase.

The Chicago Cubs (37-35) have been a streaky team through the first couple of months of the season and they hold this record thanks to putting together a long run of wins on two occasions. However, the fact they are only two games above 0.500 underlines the streaky nature of the team and the Cubs just saw a three game winning run ended on Sunday.

It has all led to a 7.5 game gap between the Cubs and the National League Central leading Milwaukee Brewers and they would love to get a little closer before the All Star Game in July.

To do that, the Cubs cannot afford to drop another series against the struggling Colorado Rockies (27-45) who are in a familiar position in the basement of the National League West. Last week, the Rockies took two of three games against the Chicago Cubs at home and Colorado will travel to The Windy City after piling up an incredible twenty-three runs in a win over the Athletics on Sunday.

The Rockies will hand the ball to Michael Lorenzen who has a 2-8 record and 7.54 ERA in fifteen appearances made this season with fourteen of those being in starts. The starter could still be someone that contenders may have on the radar after Lorenzen put together a solid couple of years on the Major League circuit and with the contract one that can be picked up pretty easily in a trade.

Of course that would mean improving his overall performances on the mound and Michael Lorenzen will take encouragement from throwing 5 Innings and giving up a single run against these Cubs last week. He did not factor into the decision that day, but it was a bounce back performance after Michael Lorenzen was roughed up for eight runs and failed to get out of the 4th Inning in his opening June start.

Michael Lorenzen played his first seven years in the Majors with the Cincinnati Reds and so he has plenty of experience pitching against the Chicago Cubs- forty-three appearances have been made against the Cubs, but last week was just the fourth start and Lorenzen has a 2-4 record with a 6.93 ERA in those previous outings.

The Cubs will counter by handing the ball to Shota Imanaga who duelled Lorenzen last week in Colorado.

Shota Imanaga has a 4-6 record and 4.44 ERA in his fourteen starts in 2026 and the third year Major League pitcher has to be a little concerned that the ERA is potentially increasing again compared with the following year. That happened in 2025 compared with his rookie season and the more tape that teams have, the harder it becomes for pitchers at this level.

He had been on a terrible run of four starts where Shota Imanaga had a 0-3 record and 10.80 ERA, but he did throw 5 scoreless Innings against the Rockies last week. Shota Imanaga did not factor into the decision, but it does mean he has 11 Innings against the Rockies in his career without giving up a run.

Colorado had won three in a row against the Chicago Cubs overall after taking the first two games last week, but the run was snapped with the Cubs taking the last of that set.

Prediction

A streaky team with an inconsistent pitcher are not easy to trust, but the Chicago Cubs may still have enough to put a solid win on the board against this Colorado Rockies team.

When these two pitchers met last week, it turned into a duel, but that may help the batters know what to expect with the quick turnaround.

Shota Imanaga has had decent success agains the Colorado Rockies and Michael Lorenzen has struggled for consistency against the Chicago Cubs.

That could play out with the Cubs capable of winning by a couple of runs.

The Pick :

Chicago Cubs 5-3 Colorado Rockies

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Chicago Cubs - 1.5 Runs at +108 with Bookmaker.eu