Brendan O’Sullivan dives into his pick and prediction for the New York Mets vs. Chicago Cubs game on Friday, April 17.
The Mets and Cubs play begin their three-game series on Friday, April 17.
Chicago is a -136 moneyline favorite, while New York is +113 on DraftKings Sportsbook. The game total is set at over/under 10.5 runs.
Let’s get into a pick and prediction for this Mets vs. Cubs game.
When will the Mets’ suffering end? The losses keep piling up as they are now on an eight-game losing streak heading into a road series vs. the Cubs. They lost two of three to the Diamondbacks before the Athletics and Dodgers swept them back to back. It’s been as ugly of a start as New York can endure.
Some of the team’s struggles is due to Juan Soto’s IL stint. He injured his calf on April 3 and has been out since. His targeted return is during the team’s next homestand. Soto is batting .355 across eight games this season.
New York’s problems are far deeper than Soto’s injury. The rest of the lineup has been disappointing, which has led to this eight-game losing streak. It’s not a death sentence for the team’s season — it’s still only April — but it’s not a good look either.
The pitching hasn’t been memorable either, and Friday’s starter is one of the weaker rotation members recently. Kodai Senga has shown flashes of excellence, but he’s struggled this season. Through 14.0 innings and three starts, Senga has allowed 17 hits, 11 earned runs and seven walks, while striking out 19.
The Cubs are just 9-9, which is rather disappointing, too. This team has deep playoff aspirations, and it made a number of moves to bolster the roster. One of which was the Edward Cabrera trade with Miami. The right-hander has been excellent thus far, posting a 1.62 ERA across 16.2 innings. He needs to work on his control, however, as nine walks in three starts is alarming. It’s also limited how far he can pitch in games. The past two outings have been 5.0 and 5.2 innings with 98 and 97 pitches, respectively.
This isn’t a difficult decision, even with the Cubs playing mediocre baseball this season. When Cabrera is on the mound, Chicago has the advantage in most games. That’s especially so against Senga on Friday.
The Mets haven’t been hitting, and it won’t happen in the series opener.
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