Mets vs Cubs Series Preview 6/14-6/17

Hey all – Steve here! Oh, we’ve got a good one on tap for us with a battle of first-place teams in the middle of June that takes place in New York City with a near-capacity limit for the crowds! I mentioned it is a battle of first-place teams, but that’s not how this one might end – the Cubs are actually in a first-place tie with the Brewers. I felt the need to point that out as petty as it might have been. Anyway – let’s get to it – but first, the standings.

The Mets are 17-6 at home and the Cubs are 14-17 on the road.

Mets (32-25) vs Orioles (38-27)

Game 1

David Peterson (1-5 6.32 ERA) vs Jake Arrieta (5-6, 4.97 ERA)

On last week’s show, I said that Peterson is running out of time, but then you think about the 33 games in 31 days and the double-headers and you really can’t do anything drastic until after this stretch of games. He needs to locate better and he needs to do it now. If we wanted this kind of lefty we would have kept Matz. We have seen good things out of Peterson and if he can get back to that, Mets opponents are in some trouble. I dislike Jake Arrieta very much. That is all I’ve got on him. Check out tonight’s lineups:

Game 2

Taijuan Walker (5-2 2.07 ERA) vs Alec Mills (2-0 6.08 ERA)

Walker has been outstanding for the Mets this season. He has been one of the best pitchers in all of baseball and owns an ERA of 1.32 in his last six starts. For you non-baseball people reading a preview about a baseball series, that’s pretty damn good. Alec Mills has a W-L record/ERA combo that just doesn’t compute. This is his 2nd start of the season and everything else has been out of the pen. The only guy on the Mets with more than a few AB’s against Mills is Peraza and he is 3 for 9 with an RBI.

Cubs vs Walker

Kris Bryant – 2 for 4 0 HR 1 RBI

Jason Heyward – 1 for 4 0 HR 0 RBI

Anthony Rizzo – 0 for 4

Joc Pederson – 6 for 16 1 HR 2 RBI

Game 3

Jacob deGrom (6-2 0.56 ERA) vs TBD

Put this one in the books now. Thank you. Actually, the Cubs have had some success against him:

Javier Baez – 2 for 14

Kris Bryant – 5 for 15 1 HR 1 RBI

Wilson Contreras – 0 for 7

Jason Heyward – 6 for 18

Joc Pederson – 5 for 17

Anthony Rizzo – 7 for 14 2 RBI

Game 4

Marcus Stroman (6-4 2.33 ERA) vs Kyle Hendricks (8-4 4.46 ERA)

Stro has been as consistent a pitcher as the Mets could have hoped for. He has gone 6 or more innings in 7 consecutive starts, which is rare these days. Hendricks has been pitching well – it’s too bad the Mets will have to ruin that for him. Over his last 6 outings he is 6-0 with a 2.93 ERA.

Mets vs Hendricks

McCann – 3 for 7 1 RBI

Peraza – 6 for 19

Villar – 5 for 22 1 HR 2 RBI

Predictions for the series