Heads up! MLB is doing that thing again where it’s more difficult to watch one Sunday baseball game and that game happens to be the Cubs vs Mets this week. Over the last several years MLB has played around with making one game from the Sunday slate earlier than others and making it a nationally distributed game on streaming services. This started with Peacock and the contract went to Roku last season. At least with Roku the game is free. You either need a Roku device, a device that can download the Roku Channel app or you can go do their website. Personally, I think it’s a bad idea to create extra steps between fans and baseball but MLB is going to do what MLB is going to do.
Anyway, this should be an exciting Mother’s Day match up this afternoon as the first place Cubs and the first place Mets face each other in a rubber game for the series. The Mets powered their way to a victory on Friday night smashing four home runs over four innings. The Mets got five RBI’s from Brett Baty Saturday night, but it wasn’t enough to over come the Cubs.
Griffin Canning has a 2.50 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 1.389 WHIP and a 159 ERA+ over seven starts and 36 innings this season. He’s been spectacular in his last four starts, allowing only three runs, scattering 20 hits and seven walks, over 21 innings while striking out 24 batters (1.29 ERA, 2.45 FIP). Canning had one start against the Cubs in 2024 and it was in Chicago where he allowed four runs from six hits over 4 1/3 innings. The Cubs have the following career numbers against him:
- Michael Busch 1-2, BB
- Ian Happ 1-1, BB
- Nico Hoerner 0-3
- Carson Kelly 0-6, K
- Nicky Lopez 2-11, 2 BB, K
- Seiya Suzuki 1-2, HR
- Dansby Swanson 0-2, K
- Kyle Tucker 4-15, 2 HR, 2 BB, 2 K
- Justin Turner 2-8, BB, 3 K
Matthew Boyd has found a home in Chicago. He’s having a career year in his 11th major league season. Over seven starts and 39 1/3 innings, he has a 2.75 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 1.347 WHIP and a 147 ERA+. He got off to a really strong start to the season, holding opponents scoreless over 11 innings. Since then he has had a 3.81 ERA, 4.21 FIP over 28 1/3 innings. Only four members of the Mets have seen Boyd in a Major League game before:
- Francisco Lindor 12-33, 3 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB, 3 K
- Starling Marte 1-7, BB, 2 K
- Juan Soto 1-4, HR, BB
- Tyrone Taylor 3-4, 2B, HR
Three Things To Watch For:
- Brett Baty. Brett Baty has been on a tear this weekend going 4-for-8 at the plate with three home runs, six RBI’s and three runs scored. In his last four games he has gone 5-for-14 with four home runs and only three strikeouts, slashing .357/.357/1.214 (1.571 OPS). His season slugging has gone from .288 to .485. At the start of the season, the plan was to mainly use Baty against right-handed pitchers, but with how hot Baty has been recently, he deserves to play today.
- Runners In Scoring Position. Saturday night the Cubs went 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The Mets went 1-for-10. Both teams struck out a lot in the game (Cubs 10 times, Mets 12 times) but ultimately for the Mets not coming through in clutch moments cost them the game.
- Reed Garrett. There’s a strong chance we see Garrett this afternoon, since his outing last weekend against the Diamondbacks he has thrown literally two pitches, recording an out in Friday night’s game. Over 17 games and 15 2/3 innings, Garrett has a 0.57 ERA, 2.61 FIP, 1.021 WHIP and a 700 ERA+ (not a typo). He’s in the 77th percentile in Whiff% and 83rd in K%. The only warning lights right now is contact – hitters are making hard contact against him 48.7% of the time and barreling up 10.3% of the time (28th percentile).
Let’s Go Mets!
