MLB Regular Season: New York Mets vs Los Angeles Dodgers Series Preview
Red Hot Mets Visit Slumping Dodgers
Two MLB teams surprisingly going in different directions right now face off this weekend as the New York Mets — winners of four-straight games and 10 of their last 13 — visit the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have lost five of their last seven.
The Mets looked dead in the water after starting the season 0-5 but have quickly turned things around while the Dodgers have cooled following a 7-2 open. Still, the Mets vs Dodgers betting odds reflect that Los Angeles is the superior team despite recent trends.
New York just finished a 4-2 homestand and three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Mets have gotten solid starting pitching, elite bullpen innings and timely hits from up and down their roster even as offensive mainstays like Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil have struggled.
New York has also only played above-.500 teams thus far which makes it more impressive that they have a 10-8 record. The baseball lines aren’t firm believers in Carlos Mendoza’s squad just yet, though.
The Dodgers are wrapping up a nine-game homestead with this series and it hasn’t gone great for Los Angeles. First, the Dodgers dropped two of three against the rival San Diego Padres and then the bats went cold as they lost of three against the Washington Nationals.
Overall, the offense has been just about as good as expected with the inclusion of Shohei Ohtani but it hasn’t been consistent enough to overcome a middle-of-the-road team ERA.
Mets vs Dodgers 
Day/Time:
Location: Dodger Stadium
Dodgers’ Rotation Is Makeshift Right Now
While a rotation headlined by Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow is nothing to scoff at, it’s never good when a team’s pitcher MLB injured list is more impressive than the healthy staff.
Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Bobby Miller and Tony Gonsolin are all currently sidelined and Walker Buehler has yet to make his season debut, although he is expected to start next week against the Nationals. So, guys like Gavin Stone have had to fill in with mixed results.
The Mets vs Dodgers betting odds have Los Angeles as -200 moneyline favorites (with New York at +182) in Friday night’s opener because Yamamoto is facing off against Sean Manaea, who has mostly been good in his first season with the Mets but is coming off a rough start his last time out.
Stone will go against the impressive youngster José Buttó — currently boasting a 0.75 ERA — in Game 2 on Saturday and the veteran James Paxton gets the nod in Sunday’s finale opposite Adrian Houser.
The numbers aren’t so bad for the Dodgers’ rotation but the replacement starters haven’t provided much length, forcing Los Angeles to lean heavily on its bullpen whether in relief or for entirely reliever-pitched MLB games. The Dodgers have only the 8th-best ERA in the NL which surely will go down once Buehler and the reinforcements come back into the mix.
Paxton has done a good job of keeping runs off the board since coming over to Los Angeles as a free agent but he has walked an absurd 14 batters in his 16 innings, so his low ERA feels like a mirage. Right now, team is just far from the 100+ win team that MLB predictions pegged it as.
Can Mets Keep Piecing It Together?
New York has also had its own rotation injury issues as staff ace Kodai Senga has been out since the spring with a shoulder strain and fellow starters Tylor Megill and David Peterson are on the shelf as well.
But, the Mets have made it work thanks to a bunch of new starters — Luis Severino, Manaea and Houser — as well as one of baseball’s best bullpens. They too haven’t gotten much length from their starters yet when you keep runs from scoring as well as the Mets have, you can live with five-inning one-run outings.
The Mets vs Dodgers betting clearly don’t love Manaea’s chances of holding down the Dodgers’ incredible lineup, headlined by MVP frontrunner Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Ohtani. It’s tough for any pitcher to keep those guys in check not to mention Teoscar Hernández, Will Smith and Max Muncy.
There is particular concern that Manaea — as someone who doesn’t throw hard — could have trouble with the Dodgers who are bound to get back into form after a rough week.
The offensive part of things for the Mets is a little trickier. A lot of their success this MLB season has been due to Pete Alonso doing Pete Alonso things (like hit a bunch of home runs) and also a variety of contributors coming through with big hits at big moments, such as Harrison Bader, Tyrone Taylor and the injured Brett Baty.
Once side could think that the Mets doing well despite some of their stars not hitting is a sign of good things to come while another side could think that those “fortunate” hits will regress back to the mean.
Take The Over
Either way you fall on that debate, one of the best baseball picks today is taking the over 8.5 runs at +100. Manaea and Yamamoto have blow-up potential with two above-average offenses going at it.
For MLB stats, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
