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The lone national TV game around Major League Baseball on Monday, shown on Fox Sports 1, features the New York Mets visiting the NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies in their first meeting of the year. The Phils are favored on the MLB odds.

How to Bet New York at Philadelphia MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Monday, 6:45 PM ET
Where: Citizens Bank Park
Probable pitchers (away/home): Taijuan Walker/Ranger Suarez
TV: Fox Sports 1
Stream/gameday audio: Fox Sports Go
Opening MLB Lines: Phillies -140, Mets +130 (total 9)

Why Bet on NY Mets?

The 2022 Mets enter the season with several new players on the roster, including: RHP Chris Bassitt (trade), OF Mark Canha (free agent), INF Eduardo Escobar (free agent), OF Travis Jankowski (free agent), OF Starling Marte (free agent), RHP Adam Ottavino (free agent), LHP Joely Rodríguez (trade), RHP Max Scherzer (free agent) and LHP Chasen Shreve (free agent).

New York was trying for a four-game sweep in Washington on Sunday but lost 4-2. Francisco Lindor crushed a solo homer and also stole a base in the loss. Lindor put the Mets on the board with a solo shot to right field — his first dinger of the season — off righty Erick Fedde in the fourth inning. He also walked and stole a base in the ensuing frame. Marte got the game off but should play here. Ditto catcher James McCann.

Pete Alonso currently ranks 14th in Mets history with 107 career homers. Up next on the Mets all-time HR leaderboard: Jose Reyes (108), Ed Kranepool (118), Edgardo Alfonzo (120).

New York is 3-1 vs. the NL East this year. Last year, the team went 39-37 against the NL East. The Mets posted a 3.58 ERA (255 earned runs/640.1 innings) and hit .243/.314/.400 against the division.

It’s Taijuan Walker on the mound here. He gave up six runs on six hits without a strikeout or a walk in 1.1 innings of his final Grapefruit League start on April 5 at Washington. It was his third straight appearance without issuing a walk. Last year, Walker was named to the All-Star team for the first time. He went 7-3 with a 2.50 ERA (25 earned runs/90.0 innings), a 1.03 WHIP and 89 strikeouts in 16 first half starts. After the break, he was 0-8 with a 7.04 ERA (54 earned runs/69.0 innings) in 14 games. Walker made five starts against the Phillies last season, most recently on September 17 vs. Philadelphia at Citi Field. He suffered the loss, allowing two runs on three hits (one home run) with no walks and three strikeouts through 5.0 innings of work.

Why Bet on Philadelphia?

The Phillies were trying to sweep a three-game home series vs. Oakland on Sunday but lost 4-1. Billy McKinney homered and Daulton Jefferies and four relievers combined on a three-hitter for the A’s. They A’s shut down a Phillies offense that scored 13 runs in the first two games of the series. The Phillies’ only two hits through the first five innings came from backups Garrett Stubbs and Johan Camargo. Jean Segura hit his second homer off the season for the Phillies in the ninth off Lou Trivino.

Reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts Sunday. Harper, who was arguably the hottest hitter in baseball at the conclusion of spring training last week, has exactly one hit in 11 at-bats through three regular season games. Fellow outfielder Odubel Herrera is still in Florida as he works his way back from an oblique injury. He is not expected to be activated from the injured list until late April. Matt Vierling has served as the team’s primary center fielder in Herrera’s absence.

Over the last two seasons (since 2021), the Phillies lead the National League and rank 2nd in MLB with 4.17 pitches per plate appearance in the 1st inning behind only the Yankees (4.18 P/PA). Philadelphia’s 33 home runs in the 1st inning since 2021 rank T-3rd in the NL behind only the Dodgers (42 HR) and Giants (40 HR). Overall, the Phillies are slashing .258/.346/.472 in the 1st frame since 2021.

With Harper and the additions of Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber, the Phillies feature three of the top 10 players in MLB last season in OPS (min. 450 PA). Harper ranked 1st in MLB (1.044), Castellanos ranked 7th (.939) and Schwarber ranked 9th (.928).

Ranger Suarez gets the call here. He worked 3.2 hitless innings in his final spring outing. Suarez pitched in just about every role for the team last season over 106 innings, but Suarez really opened some eyes when he got the opportunity to start games following the trade deadline. He was arguably even better as a starter than he was in relief, posting a 1.51 ERA and 65/19 K/BB in 65.2 innings with a sinker that continued to mystify opposing hitters.

Suarez’s improvement last season was due in part to a strong increase in velocity while also nearly trashing his slider in favor of the much more dominant sinker. His 59% groundball rate was among the best in the game, and it hardly declined while in the rotation.