Can The Mets Stay Above .500 This Week?

Check out our Cubs vs Mets betting preview for a huge National League four-game series. The New York Mets returned to .500 with a walk-off home run from Mark Vientos in Sunday’s extra-inning win over the Cardinals. New York started the season slow but got hot after a 0-5 start. They’re now back over .500 with plenty of games left on the schedule.

Meanwhile, they’ll take on the Chicago Cubs on their home field for a four-game series. The Cubs are currently 17-11 and playing great baseball. This begs the question, will this four-game series tie at two, or will one of these teams pull ahead with big performances this week?

The Mets open the series as -142 moneyline favorites for Game 1. The comeback on Chicago is +120 and the total is set at 7.5 with the over slightly juiced at -112.

Garrett Cooper Now With The Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox acquired Garrett Cooper from the Chicago Cubs on April 27 after the Cubs designated him for assignment last week. Cooper was hitting .270 with a home run and six RBIs. However, his playing time wasn’t high with Muchael Busch’s hot start at first base for the Cubs. So you will not see Cooper in a Chicago uniform this week.

Mark Vientos Is Here To Stay

The New York Mets decided in Spring Training that Mark Vietnos wouldn’t start the season in the majors. The third baseman didn’t beat out Brett Baty for the starting job, and the Mets decided it was best to send him into Triple-A to get more reps. With these reps, he dominated Triple-A and got the call-up once Starling Marte was put on the bereavement list.

Vientos wasted no time producing after he hit a game-winning walk-off home run against the Cardinals to help the Mets salvage the three-game series against the Cardinals. When asked if Vientos would return to the lineup once Marte returns, manager Carlos Mendoza suggested Vientos is here to stay.

Cubs vs Mets Betting Odds For Game 1:

RL: Mets -1.5 (+170) ML: Mets -123, O/U 7.5 -112/-108

The Cubs have penciled in Jameson Taillon for tonight’s matchup against Luis Severino. Taillon has struck out only 18.2% of batters but has still limited his first 44 batters of the year to a .122 ISO and woBA of .278. Last year, he struggled against lefties. However, this season, he hasn’t been nearly as bad. Again, his sample size is limited after he didn’t begin the season on the active roster.

Meanwhile, the Mets’ projected lineup has hit a .178 ISO and wOBA of .319 with 21.9% strikeouts against righties since last season. Lefties like Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, and D.J. Stewart have solid matchups against Taillon in this game.

On the other hand, it’ll be Luis Severino for the Mets. Severino has been tremendous for New York, holding batters to a .095 ISO and wOBA of .295. He’s even added 57% of ground balls and just 7.8% of walks. His strikeouts could use a little increase. But overall, Severino’s resurgence has been noticed.

He’s in line to face a Cubs lineup that has struck out 25% of the time against righties since last year. Using the projected lineup, the Cubs have also hit a .164 ISO and wOBA of .313 in that same period.

Therefore, the Mets match up better in this game and deserve to be favorites in Game 1. We’ll back the Mets as one of our MLB picks today. Meanwhile, the implied run of 7.5 is a reasonable number.

While Javier Assad has a 2.00 ERA, he’s still allowed a .178 ISO and wOBA of .322 to his first 52 lefties. Asaad doesn’t earn ground balls against lefties and has allowed 44.1% of fly balls and 32.4% of line drives to those same lefties this season.

Asaad won’t be able to keep producing at a high level with these stats.

In the New York lineup, he’ll likely face six lefties. That won’t be ideal for Asaad, who has regularly faced more righties than lefties this season.

Conversely, the Mets will pitch Sean Manaea. He’s a lefty who has allowed a .044 ISO and wOBA of .293. However, his walks have increased to 13.1% from just 8.4% last season.

If Manaea can keep the walks down, he’ll be in great shape throughout the season. That said, the Cubs don’t have too many batters in their lineup, earning plenty of walks. If Manaea attacks the zone, he should be in line for the win against the Chicago Cubs in this game.

In Game 3 of this series, the Mets will get their first look at Shota Imanaga. Imanaga has already struck out 26% of batters with just 2.8% of walks. Against 108 batters, Imanaga has also allowed an ISO of .076 with a wOBA of .205. These stats seem unsustainable, but Imanaga has a solid sample size of 108 batters.

While the Mets have typically been better against lefties this season, Imanaga probably won’t be one where they find much success.

Imanaga will face Jose Butto of the Mets, who has also done well, limiting batters to a .133 ISO and wOBA of .278 to begin the year. Butto’s walks have risen to 13.3%, which isn’t good. While he’s struck out 27.8% of batters, he’s only added 19.1% of strikeouts to lefties.

Chicago should have more lefties than righties in the lineup against Butto. Therefore, we’d rock with the Cubs in Game 3 of this series in our Cubs vs Mets betting preview.

Ben Brown will get the call in the final game of the series. He has struck out nearly 24% of batters, with a .131 ISO and a wOBA of .292 against 93 batters. The 6’6″ Brown isn’t going deep in games, but he’s giving good enough stats to keep the Cubs in games.

However, we can’t say the same about Adrian Houser of the Mets. Houser has an 8.37 ERA this season after allowing more walks than strikeouts earned through his first 115 batters. He has also allowed a .376 wOBA and has looked way worse against lefties than righties this season. Again, against righties, the Cubs figure to have more lefties in the lineup.

If you’re looking for our MLB game predictions in the fourth game of this series, we’d back the Cubs, which would tie the four-game series at two.

For MLB betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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