Mets vs Astros Betting Preview: Can Struggling Aces Get In the Groove?

Alonso is Back Earlier Than Expected for Struggling Mets

When the New York Mets head to Houston trying to shake off the recent struggles, 38-year-old Max Scherzer and 40-year-old Justin Verlander will get the starts in the first two games of the series as the Mets vs Astros betting preview list the Mets are the underdog. Houston will counter with 24-year-old Hunter Brown on Monday and 26-year-old Cristian Javier on Wednesday. Brown was 10 years old when Scherzer made his MLB debut.

Who would have thought that the Mets would be in fourth place in the National League East Division with the defending World Series champion Houston Astros third in the American League West? In the MLB National League standings, 10 teams have better records than the Mets.

The Astros came into the season listed by the MLB picks as the favorite to win the World Series with the Mets one of four teams tied for the third-best odds. The Astros are tied for the final playoff spot in the American League when looking at the MLB wildcard standings with the Mets 5½ out of the final wild-card position in the National League.

The Mets are just 16-23 on the road this season with the Astros just 20-18 at home after finishing second in the American League with 55 home wins during the 2022 season.

Houston is just 7-10 in the month of June with the Mets 4-11 during the month.

Alonso Back for Mets

When Pete Alonso suffered a wrist injury after being hit a pitch during a June 7 loss to the Atlanta Braves, the thought was that he would be out of action until July. However, the National League leader with 22 home runs, returned to the field in Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals. His presence doesn’t change the fact that the Mets are the underdogs in the Mets vs Astros betting preview.

Alonso hit fourth and was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts so he still needs to shake some of the rust off. Having Alonso back in the lineup should take some of the pressure off some of the other hitters on the Mets.

The Mets are hitting just .222 as a team in June so Alonso can’t return quickly enough.

Five of the last seven games played by the Mets finished under the MLB betting lines total.

Astros’ Offense Stuck in Neutral

While the Mets have Alonso back, the Astros continue to play without their leader with 17 home runs and 55 RBIs as Yordan Alvarez continues to be sidelined. Still, when looking at the Mets vs Astros betting preview, the Astros are favored.

Alvarez had four of the 10 home runs that the Astros hit against the Mets in 2022.

His absence was never more obvious than when the Astros went 6-for-40 with runners in scoring position while dropping the last four games.

The offense did show some signs of life on Sunday with Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, and Chas McCormick combining for seven hits, five runs, and four RBIs in a 10-inning loss to Cincinnati.

The Las Vegas odds total has gone under in six of the last seven games played by the Astros against National League East teams.

Who’s Hot

• Brandon Nimmo, New York Mets OF: Nimmo is hitting .346 with two doubles, two home runs with seven RBIs in his last seven games.
• Kyle Tucker, Houston Astros OF: Tucker is batting .423 with six runs and three RBIs over his last seven games.
• Framber Valdez, Houston Astros P: Valdez has allowed 14 hits and four runs with 18 strikeouts in 19 innings in his first three starts in June.
• Josh Walker, New York Mets P: Walker has allowed three hits and one run with five strikeouts in 3.2 innings since returning to the majors on June 11.

Who’s Not

• Francisco Alvarez, New York Mets C: Alvarez has two hits in his last 20 at-bats and he has no extra-base hits in his last five contests.
• Mauricio Dubon, Houston Astros IF: Dubon is 3-for-24 with four strikeouts over the last six games.
• Seth Martinez, Houston Astros P: Martinez has allowed six hits and eight runs over seven innings in his last four outings.
• Max Scherzer, New York Mets P: Scherzer has surrendered 23 hits and 12 runs in 16 innings over his last three starts.

Mets vs Astros Injury Update

The Mets will be without relief pitcher Drew Smith as he continues to serve a 10-game suspension for the use of a foreign substance on his hands. Fellow pitcher Jose Quintana could make his season debut later this month.

Houston is looking to get outfielder Michael Brantley and pitcher Jose Urquidy back by late June.

Mets vs Astros Betting Preview

Just based on the recent results of the probable starting pitchers, it is hard to pick against the host Astros in this three-game series.

Verlander will return to Houston for the first time since going 61-19 in five seasons with the Astros.

Valdez, Javier, and Brown have ERAs between 1.89-2.65 so far in June.

The Astros are 27-23 this season when listed as the favorite, while the Mets are just 6-14 as the underdog. The Astros have covered 16 of the 38 home games compared to a 14-25 against the spread for the Mets on the road this season.

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