This Cubs homestand is an old NL East flashback — Mets and Phillies! Just like it was the 1970s or 1980s again.
Obviously, that’s just a bit of nostalgia. In the meantime, this seven-game homestand seems important for the Cubs to begin to set a tone at Wrigley Field, where they are just 4-5 so far this year.
Here’s more on the Mets from Chris McShane, manager of our SB Nation Mets site Amazin’ Avenue
.If you wanted to draw up a nightmare season for David Stearns, it would pretty much look exactly like
this. We keep reminding ourselves that it’s still incredibly early, but you can’t help but worry that this will be a lost season when your team loses eight games in a row by the middle of April. And even with the lineup being the team’s biggest problem right now, it felt all too fitting that Devin Williams had his first terrible outing as a Met in the team’s series finale in Los Angeles, turning a game that would’ve involved Edwin Díaz coming in for a save opportunity against the Mets into a blowout that no longer required his services.
Not every player who Stearns jettisoned is off to a hot start, but of the five new faces that were in the Mets’ lineup on Opening Day, only Luis Robert Jr. is hitting above league average so far this season. The rotation has major question marks after David Peterson’s recent run of bad starts and Kodai Senga’s particularly awful start his last time out. And after emphasizing run prevention early in the offseason as the team said goodbye to Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil, the Mets’ defense looks anything but sharp as there are several players learning new positions on the job.
Things can’t get much worse than they are right now, but there’s no optimism about this team at the moment.
Fun facts
The Cubs’ next win against the Mets will be their 400th in the rivalry, which began in 1962. They have lost 379 and tied two, for a winning percentage of .513. While the Cubs have earned 20 more wins, in all 780 games they have been outscored, by seven runs, 3,372 to 3,365.
They are 213-181-1, .541, vs. the Mets at home, but lost two of three each of the last two seasons and are 5-8 since 2022.
(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Probable pitching matchups
Friday: Edward Cabrera, RHP (1-0, 1.62 ERA, 1.140 WHIP, 3.22 FIP) vs. Kodai Senga, RHP (0-2, 7.07 ERA, 1.714 WHIP, 3.80 FIP)
Saturday: Jameson Taillon, RHP (0-1, 4.86 ERA, 1.260 WHIP, 6.28 FIP) vs. Freddy Peralta, RHP (1-1, 3.86 ERA, 1.143 WHIP, 3.92 FIP)
Sunday: Javier Assad, RHP (1-1, 8.10 ERA, 1.600 WHIP, 5.76 FIP) vs. David Peterson, LHP (0-3, 6.41 ERA, 1.831 WHIP, 3.36 FIP)
Times & TV channels
Friday: 1:20 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Mets market territories)
Saturday: 1:20 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Mets market territories)
Sunday: 1:20 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Prediction
As Chris McShane noted above, the Mets are an absolute mess right now, having lost eight in a row. They’ve been outscored 44-12 in those eight games.
I’d like to see the Cubs keep that streak going. Let’s just say two of three here.
Up next
The Cubs meet the Phillies again, this time at Wrigley Field. It’s a four-game series beginning Monday evening.
