It’s been a phenomenal season for the Chicago Cubs. The acquisition of Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s ascension to superstardom have helped the team stand atop the NL Central for most of the year. But the Cubs now have company in first place, as the Milwaukee Brewers have won ten straight games and have tied Chicago’s 59-40 record. The Cubs will try to maintain their hold on the division when they take on Bobby Witt Jr. and the Kansas City Royals at Wrigley Field on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET, and the game will be shown nationally on MLB Network.

Baseball fans looking to get into MLB betting at the top sportsbooks can get the latest Cubs vs. Royals predictions and player props from the SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every game 10,000 times. 

The Cubs will have a bullpen game on Monday, with Ryan Brasier (1.04) set to be the first man through the breach. Chris Flexen (5-1, 1.47) is a likely candidate to follow as the bulk man given both his background as a starting pitcher and the fact that he hasn’t pitched since July 11. Because of the uncertainty around how many outs each pitcher will record or who will pitch in the game after Braiser, there aren’t any Cubs pitching props available at this time. 

Noah Cameron (3-4, 2.31) gets the start for Kansas City. The rookie left-hander has pitched well, particularly in his last two starts before the All-Star break. He got a win against the Pirates and then took a no-decision against the Mets despite pitching 6 2/3 innings of scoreless ball. At FanDuel Sportsbook, Cameron is set at over/under 4.5 strikeouts for Monday’s game, with the Over priced +118 and the Under at -158. The model rates the Over 4.5 stars out of 5, as it projects 5.2 punchouts for the southpaw.

Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki is the favorite to hit a home run at +430 on the FanDuel odds board. He’s followed by Kyle Tucker (+450), Bobby Witt Jr. (+460), Salvador Perez (+520), Carson Kelly (+630), Dansby Swanson (+630) and Pete Crow-Armstrong (+680). 

The Cubs are -145 favorites (wager $145 to win $100) in the latest SportsLine consensus odds, while the Royals are +122 (wager $100 to win $122) underdogs. The total currently sits at 7.5, with the Over favored at -115. You can find the model’s latest projections and expert picks for Cubs-Royals at SportsLine.

Here are the SportsLine model’s projections for Royals vs. Cubs on Monday.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS at CHICAGO CUBS | 7/21 | 8:05 p.m. ET

Money line
Pick: Cubs -145
Chicago wins in 65% of simulations, bringing value at these odds

Run line
Pick: Cubs -1.5 (+148)
Chicago covers in 39% of simulations, bringing value at these odds

Over/Under
Pick: Under 7.5 (-106)
The Under hits in 51.9% of simulations

Projected score: Cubs 4.3, Royals 3.4