Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets Best Bet: Can the Mets' Bats Wake Up Against Kyle Hendricks?
The New York Mets offense has been extremely anemic in the first two games of this series against the Chicago Cubs. Can they wake up the bats tonight against Kyle Hendricks? Let’s break it down.
Joey Ruiz - May 25, 2023, 5:00 PM EDT
5 minChicago Cubs vs. New York Mets Best Bet: Can the Mets' Bats Wake Up Against Kyle Hendricks?
The New York Mets have had trouble scoring runs all season and have been struggling a lot at the plate as of late. In the first two games of this current series, they have only been able to push across four total runs (two in each game) and have only had four total at-bats as a team with runners in scoring position.
Cubs vs. Mets Start Time and Where to Watch
- Date: Thursday, May 25, 2023
- Game Time: 7:40 pm ET
- Where to Watch: MLB.TV, SNY
Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets Prediction
Their inability to get runners on base and knock them in has been their Achilles heel, and things will not get easier for them tonight as they face Kyle Hendricks, who is making his first start of the season. Hendricks has been a part of the Chicago Cubs organization for what feels like forever and has been extremely reliable. He doesn’t blow you away with velocity or high spin rates, but he is a savant when it comes to locating his pitches and can usually throw it wherever he wants to any quadrant of the plate.
The problem with a guy like Hendricks is that when you don’t have high velocity or high spin rates when he makes mistakes in the middle of the plate, they usually get hit harder and more often than a guy who throws in the upper 90s. The 33-year-old has also been on a steady decline for the past two years now, as he has posted ERAs of 4.77 and 4.80 across 2021 and 2022.
Prior to these seasons, he had only one year with an ERA above 3.50 across his nearly 10-year career. The Met's offense is due for some positive regression, and Hendricks' inability to blow fastballs by them should be a huge advantage for the Mets. On the other side for New York, tonight will be Carlos Carrasco, who is due for some positive regression in his own right. Carrasco comes into this game with a record of 0-2 and an ERA just under 9 in 18 2/3rds innings… not good.
But what is peculiar about this game is that this line is basically a Pick 'em, which I find odd given how bad/inconsistent Carlos Carrasco and the Mets' offense have been. Maybe the books are expecting positive regression for them too? The Mets have been a resilient team lately, evidenced by some late comeback victories against the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians, and I believe there will be a concerted effort by the Met's offense tonight to avoid the sweep. With that being said, I am rolling with Mets F5 ML at -104 and Mets Full Game ML at -102 for 1U each as my most confident MLB plays of the day.
Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets Best Bet
- 1U Mets F5 ML -104 is currently the best odds. Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
- 1U Mets Full Game ML -102 is currently the best odds. Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
MLB Odds
