Cubs Already Jump Cardinals Into Top 10 World Series Contenders by the Odds

The Chicago Cubs are off to a hot start to the 2020 MLB season. They sit atop the NL Central at 4-2, while only one other team in the division (the Milwaukee Brewers) is even at .500.

It's still early, of course, but in the shortened 2020 season, every game is that much more impactful.

Reflecting this, the Cubs have jumped into the top 10 in odds to win the World Series on FanDuel Sportsbook. They ranked just 13th in pre-season World Series odds, and this jump has seen them vault the division rival St. Louis Cardinals, who have dropped from t-10th to t-15th.

This hot start for the Cubs has been powered by their offense, ranking second in the MLB with an average of 6.33 runs per game. Four Cubs have already gone yard at least twice (including three times for Anthony Rizzo), and as a team their 130 wRC+ ranks No. 3 in the majors.

If they hope to be true World Series contenders, however, the Cubs' pitching staff needs to pick things up. Their 5.26 ERA is the seventh highest in the MLB, and that's matched by a 5.14 fielding independent pitching (FIP) mark.

We're only a week into the season, but Cubs fans have to be pretty excited about their team, as Chicago looks like a legitimate contender in 2020.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. 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 his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.