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Chicago Cubs Projected 2020 Win Total is Disrespectful

By Tristan Jung

The Chicago Cubs are projected to barely go over .500 by oddsmakers in 2020.
The Chicago Cubs are projected to barely go over .500 by oddsmakers in 2020. / Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images
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Baseball is set to come back in late July, and Chicago Cubs fans will be excited to at least watch their team on television in 2020.

However, the oddsmakers have already tempered Cubs fans' optimism for 2020. At FanDuel Sportsbook, the Cubs' over/under on wins stands at just 31.5, a disappointing total for a team that was listed at 87.5 wins before the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season.

Dropping the Cubs to 31.5 wins shows that there's not much respect for the Cubs' roster right now. FanGraphs' projections similarly have the Cubs at 32-28, likely due to their uncertain bullpen and disappointing 2019 numbers.

However, there are more than a few reasons why this 31.5 total is a little off. For one, the Cubs will have a much easier schedule than they would've had over 162 games. The Cubs get to face the AL Central, the worst division in baseball in 2019, for at least 20 games this season. Their own division, the NL Central, is tough, but the Cubs don't exactly have a super team to contend with.

The St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Cincinnati Reds are all equally flawed teams. And of course, the Pittsburgh Pirates seem to be in full rebuilding mode.

The Cubs still have Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Anthony Rizzo, and the shortened season should allow them to maximize their thin rotation led by Yu Darvish and Kyle Hendricks.

While new manager Davis Ross definitely has work to do and the realities of the pandemic make projecting the future almost impossible, putting them at a win total of just 31.5 games doesn't make much sense for a team with this much talent.

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Tristan Jung is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Tristan Jung also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username tristan1117. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.