7:10 pm
June 16

Cubs @ Mets

Who will WIN this matchup?

Chicago Cubs (38-29)

@ New York Mets (34-25)

 

Starting Pitchers:

Stock (CHC): 0-0; 0.00 ERA

deGrom (NYM) 6-2; 0.56 ERA

 

Current odds:

Chicago Cubs: (+260)

New York Mets: (-315)

 

• The Mets won their second straight game Tuesday, when Taijuan Walker earned the win after striking out a career-high 12 batters over seven strong innings. Pete Alonso accounted for all of New York’s RBIs in a 3-2 victory.

• Robert Stock is slated to make his 2021 debut Wednesday night, when he’s expected to be recalled from Triple-A Iowa to start for the visiting Chicago Cubs against deGrom and the host Mets. The contest is the third in a four-game series. Stock, who was 0-1 with a 4.73 ERA in 10 appearances for the Boston Red Sox in 2020, will make his first big league start on Wednesday. He will oppose fellow right-hander deGrom (6-2, 0.56 ERA), who is looking to get past an injury scare and continue his historic surge. “He’s been throwing good,” Cubs manager David Ross said Tuesday afternoon about Stock, who is 0-3 with a 4.12 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 19 2/3 innings at Iowa.

• Of course, so does deGrom, who has more RBIs at the plate (five) than earned runs allowed on the mound (four) and has the lowest ERA through 10 starts of any pitcher since at least 1913. The two-time National League Cy Young Award winner was clocked as high as 102 mph last season and has thrown a whopping 128 pitches at 100 mph or higher this season. There was some concern last Friday — when deGrom earned the win after allowing one hit, striking out 10 and facing the minimum 18 batters over six innings in the Mets’ 5-2 victory over the Padres — that his fireballing ways might have taken a serious toll.

• deGrom exited after just 80 pitches due to right flexor tendonitis, but he said afterward he wasn’t concerned. A MRI administered Saturday came back clean and deGrom’s between starts routine went according to form, right down to fielding grounders around the infield during batting practice Monday afternoon. “He’s done everything he needs to be ready,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said Tuesday afternoon.

7/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
New York Mets
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