Wednesday will be the third matchup of three between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets. The series culminates from Citi Field in New York City.
Baseball is moving right along with spectator-less games. There has been some worry about the Marlins’ positive tests, but it has not affected this series.
Boston Red Sox
Boston has entered a rebuilding era of sorts. 2020 is the first year without their star, Mookie Betts, who just signed a massive deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Losing two out of the three against Baltimore isn’t how Boston wanted to start the season. They don’t have the star power that they had years ago. The Red Sox also have to play in the AL East, against teams such as the Yankees and Rays regularly.
Boston will have a great pitcher on the mound in this one, as Nathan Eovaldi makes his second start of the season. Eovaldi already has one win this season, pitching six innings in his start last week and entering with a 1.50 ERA.
Boston will have to rely heavily on stars Jackie Bradley Jr and Xander Bogarts this season. So far, this team hasn’t been able to score runs for their pitchers.
New York Mets
On the other side of the diamond, the Mets hope to compete in the NL East. They have several quality pieces that give them an excellent opportunity to make a run in this shortened season.
They will be pitching Jacob deGrom in this one, their go-to guy. He only pitched five innings in his first start but didn’t give up a single run. If the Mets are going to do well this year, they must win the games with deGrom on the hill.
The Mets are a national league team that is going to benefit from the new designated hitter rule. Guys like Yoenis Cespedes will be able to step into that role and provide another heavy bat without sacrificing on defense.
New York is still waiting for their young star, Pete Alonso, to break out early this year. He was finally able to hit his first home run recently but is still batting below .200 overall.
If they get everything to click, the Mets will be a team to watch out for.
Prediction
The deal with the Mets this year is going to be whether or not they score enough runs. Pitchers, such as deGrom, are going to keep them in games. We saw in the opening game against Atlanta though is that deGrom had to hold the other team scoreless to get the 1-0 win. Is that strategy sustainable?
The Red Sox aren’t who they used to be, but they won’t be a pushover for a team like the Mets to bully. There is still some talent on the BoSox that makes them a dangerous opponent.
deGrom might be too good though. I am betting that the Mets give him a little run support, and they win the series. I’ll take the Mets run line in this one.