Assad Will Lead The Way On Sunday Night Baseball

Mets vs. Cubs, 7:00 ET

If you were to paint a picture of Major League Baseball this season, the biggest thing that you'd have to try and represent is uncertainty. For the first couple weeks of the season, it seemed like certain teams would be good (the Cubs) and it seemed like there would be others that probably wouldn't have enough to get it done (the Mets). On the other hand, trying to paint a picture of who would be a seller at the trade deadline and a team that would be a buyer would be virtually impossible right now. There are so many teams hovering around .500 that it makes it impossible to know who to trust as a true contender and who is a pretender. We have two of these teams in this game as the Cubs take on the Mets on Sunday Night Baseball. 

I covered a lot about the Mets as they took on the Cubs Friday so there isn't much new to say in the past couple of days. It is worth a bit of a recap of where they stand currently and what they've done this season. For the year, the Mets really struggled to find much success. Then, about a week or so ago, the team finally started hitting and a nice winning streak happened. The team was dominating opponents and they were racking up the runs. This wasn't a normal occurrence for most of the season, so it was nice for Mets fans, but it might give them false hope. They are under .500, and this streak may have launched them into the Wild Card race, but it doesn't seem replicable for the team. Tonight, they rely on David Peterson to lead them to victory. Peterson has a 3-0 record with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He only has 22.2 innings under his belt this season, but he has allowed 24 hits and eight walks in that span. None of his games have been terrible, and the Mets are 3-1 in his four starts this year. Also encouraging is that he has a quality start in half of his games. Cubs hitters are just 10-for-47 against him in their careers. 

May 29, 2024; New York City, New York, USA;  New York Mets starting pitcher David Peterson (23) pitches in the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

While the Mets started their season and looked like they were going nowhere, the Cubs came out of the gate and looked like a real contender. The false hope quickly became a sad story as the Cubs dropped game after game and fell below .500, something they haven't found their way out of since May 28th. That may not seem like all that long ago, but the team is struggling significantly, and they need to find a way to rebound. Sure, there have been injuries, but all teams have injuries. I still maintain the club could have a real shot if they make the playoffs because their arms are rather impressive with Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, and tonight's starter Javier Assad. Assad has been excellent this season with a top-10 ERA (2.75) and a strong 1.25 WHIP. This hasn't been his best month as he has allowed eight earned runs over 15.1 innings, but he is still pitching well enough to get the Cubs in a position to win games. Mets hitters don't have a ton of experience against Assad and are just 5-for-29 against him. All of those numbers come from a game that the Cubs lost 4-2 against the Mets earlier in the year. 

One thing I didn't mention about Assad is that at home, he has been phenomenal. At Wrigley, Assad has a 1.69 ERA, compared to 3.70 on the road. I am not overly concerned about the fact that the Mets have seen him this year. I get that they are playing good baseball, but I think they are on the end of that success, not the beginning. I'm going to back the Cubs through five in this one. 

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