There will be strikeouts.
The Cubs are a strikeout-prone offense, and debuting Mets pitching prospect is a strikeout-inclined pitcher. Also: Jake Arrieta is Jake Arrieta.
Syndergaard is a hulking beast of a man (you will see why his nickname is Thor), and one of the best pitching prospects in the game. If he pitches very well tonight against the Cubs, you’ll have to resist the urge to be too annoyed with the offense. Just hope that Arrieta can match him.
Also, Syndergaard can handle the bat a bit, and I suspect it is for that reason – and not so much for the reasons Joe Maddon does it – that he’s batting 8th tonight.
If you’re watching tonight and you have MLB Network, you’ll want to check out their broadcast to see the Statcast enhancements (in theory). Looking forward to checking it out (assuming it’s on MLB.tv, too … ).
Game Info
New York Mets (20-12) at Chicago Cubs (16-15), 7:05 CT on CSN+, MLBN and MLB.tv.
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down there in the comments, so have fun.
The Series Preview lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Noah Syndergaard (1.82 ERA, 3.07 FIP; 4.25 K/BB (AAA))
versus
Jake Arrieta (3.41 ERA, 2.52 FIP, 2.87 xFIP; 4.22 K/BB)
New York Mets Lineup
1. Curtis Granderson, RF
2. Daniel Murphy, 3B
3. Michael Cuddyer, LF
4. Lucas Duda, 1B
5. Wilmer Flores, SS
6. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF
7. Kevin Plawecki, C
8. Noah Syndergaard, P
9. Ruben Tejada, 2B
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Dexter Fowler, CF
2. Kris Bryant, 3B
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Miguel Montero, C
5. Jorge Soler, RF
6. Starlin Castro, SS
7. Chris Coghlan, LF
8. Jake Arrieta, P
9. Addison Russell, 2B