Back The Starters In This Mets Vs Cardinals Matchup

Mets vs. Cardinals, 8:15 ET

There are certain teams you look at and know they will be good. Other teams are a bit sneaky and they find ways to win games. Then there is another category of those that underperform - I guess those fall into the category of you look at, think they will be good, and then they aren't. I always wonder how teams with little turnover or any big change can change from year-to-year in terms of performance. Luckily, with the Mets and Cardinals, we don't really need to evaluate them for most of that as the Mets we knew would be good, and the Cardinals we figured would be average. 

The Mets have been not just good for the season, but they have been great. Essentially since about the middle of the year last year, the Mets have become one of the best teams in baseball. They put up a great fight against the Dodgers in the playoffs before ultimately falling short. They signed Juan Soto this offseason to make their lineup even stronger. And, after thinking they would have to let Pete Alonso walk, they got him back and the dude is absolutely raking this season. At the time of this writing he is leading the Mets in the big three offensive categories. The Mets are well over .500 and they haven't even gotten Soto going yet. What still surprises me is their pitching staff has virtually no one on the team. The names are not ones that stand out, but they all are capable starters. Maybe that will matter in the playoffs, but right now they are doing just fine. Clay Holmes takes the hill for the opener and he is 3-1 with a 2.64 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP for the season. Most have struggled on the road this season, but not Holmes. He has a 1.86 ERA in four road starts, it seems he is more comfortable there. It is possible that he just faced bad hitting on the road as well - the Marlins, Twins, and Nationals were three of his four road opponents. He did face the Cardinals once already this year, going six innings, allowing four hits, two walks, and one earned run while striking out six hitters. 

The Cardinals have been pretty much average this season. It is essentially what most expected them to be this season. I know St. Louis has the potential to be good, and they were at least in the playoff race down the stretch last season before fading. The team seemingly has enough offense to compete and they have decent enough arms - they need some sort of miraculous turnaround like the Mets had the year prior. I'm not sure that it is coming for them though. The Mets at least had Francisco Lindor and Alonso leading the way last year. The Cardinals have Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras, both on the wrong side of the age range. Today they send out another older, but still good guy, Sonny Gray. Gray was very good for the Cardinals last season, and he was profitable for us last year (this year too, so far). He is 3-0 with a 3.60 ERA this season and a 1.00 WHIP. He has posted three straight quality starts, including one against the Mets. The Cardinals lost the game, but Gray went six innings allowing three earned runs, one homer, six hits, and one walk while striking out six hitters. 

This should be a pretty tight game between the two clubs. I think the Cardinals are the right side here as Gray is usually pretty good at home. However, the Mets are not a team that I'm overly interested in fading right away. Instead, I think both pitchers should be able to combat their opposing lineup. Back the under for this game and let's hope both pitchers can replicate their success from last time. I'll take the under through five innings. 

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