Are the Marlins a safe MLB Betting option?

NY Mets at Miami Baseball Betting Preview & TV Info

Written by on April 12, 2017

Last week in New York the Mets lost two of three games against the Marlins. On Thursday, the NL East rivals meet again as the Mets open one of three series in south Florida this season. Expect plenty of Mets fans on hand as Miami in April is full of New York snowbirds. They should be slight road underdogs in the MLB lines.

NY Mets at Miami Baseball Betting Preview & TV Info

When: Thursday, April 13, 7:10 PM ET Where: Marlins Park, Miami Probable pitchers (away/home): Robert Gsellman/Wei-Yin Chen TV: MLB Extra Innings Stream: MLB.tv Radio: New York / Miami Opening MLB Lines: TBA

Why Bet On NY Mets?

New York remains without closer Jeurys Familia. He is tentatively slated to begin pitching in minor league game on Friday. Familia is set to return from suspension on April 20, so he’ll knock the rust off in the minors first. He should immediately regain his closer role upon activation, pushing Addison Reed back to a setup role. The one game the Mets won vs. Miami last week was 5-2 behind ace Noah Syndergaard, who is set to go Friday. He walked none and struck out nine, including five of his first six batters, as the Marlins struggled to make hard contact early. Syndergaard improved to 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 27 innings against Miami. Fernando Salas pitched a perfect eighth and Reed got three straight outs for the save. Here, the Mets go with Robert Gsellman. His season debut was in relief, throwing one inning of scoreless ball vs. Atlanta. He then lost to the Marlins on April 8. He gave up a run in each of the first three innings and was done after five. The Marlins scored on Giancarlo Stanton’s RBI single, Marcell Ozuna’s 400-foot bomb and Miguel Rojas’ sacrifice fly. Gsellman showed some toughness on the night, refusing to let a bad start get out of control, even re-inventing himself a bit to survive, getting big outs to limit the damage on curve balls and changeups rather than his go-to sinker. “I was just out of my mechanics a little bit,” Gsellman said. “My sinker was side to side instead of sinking down and that led to a couple hits and a couple runs early in the game.”

Why Bet On Miami?

The Marlins are without starting third baseman Martin Prado. He was to begin a minor league rehab assignment Wednesday with High-A Jupiter. Prado was forced to begin the season on the disabled list after straining his right hamstring during the World Baseball Classic. If all goes well over the next few days, he could be activated as soon as this weekend. Derek Dietrich will continue to fill in at the hot corner. The team recently put shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria on the 10-day disabled list with a left oblique strain. It’s unclear when Hechavarria was injured, but oblique injuries typically sideline players for more than the minimum stay on the DL. Lefty Wei-Yin Chen goes for the Marlins here. He won in New York on April 7. Chen gave up one run and seven hits in six innings with five strikeouts and one walk. He reached on an infield single in the fourth, ending an 0-for- 51 slump at the start of his career, the fourth-longest for players who debuted in 1900 or later. Chen had the longest hitless streak at the start of a big league career since Jon Lester’s 0-for- 66 slide ended last year and the fourth longest for players who made their debut in 1900 or later. He also trailed Joey Hamilton (0-for- 57) and Ron Herbel (0-for- 55).

NY Mets at Miami Baseball Betting Pick: Miami Marlins

Chen is 2-0 in his short NL career vs. the Mets so go with Miami at home.