Padres vs Mets: MLB Betting Odds, Picks, Prediction and Trends for Week 2

Without question the marquee pitching matchup around the majors Monday features Yu Darvish of the San Diego Padres up against three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer of the Mets, with New York a short favorite on the MLB odds.

San Diego Padres vs New York Mets Monday Preview | 2023 MLB Expert Analysis

How to Bet Padres at Mets MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Monday, 7:10 PM ET
Where: Citi Field
Probable pitchers (away/home): Yu Darvish/Max Scherzer
TV: MLB Extra Innings
Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/
Opening MLB Lines: Mets -130, Padres +120 (total 7)

Why Bet on San Diego?

The Padres played Sunday night in Atlanta, and historically teams that play Sunday night and then have to travel to play Monday do not fare well at all in that Monday game. Ahead of Sunday’s game, the team put outfielder OF David Dahl on the 10-day injured list with a right quad strain.

Rougned Odor, Jose Azocar, and Dixon will be the main candidates to pick up time in right field in place of Dahl until Fernando Tatis (suspension) is eligible to make his season debut April 20. Infielder/outfielder Brandon Dixon was called up from Triple-A for now. The 31-year-old was hitting .300/.464/.600 with two homers and two stolen bases across 28 plate appearances for El Paso.

Closer Josh Hader was not available Sunday because he got saves on both Friday and Saturday in Atlanta. He has struck out 8 of the 15 batters he’s faced on the season with an 18.00 SO/9 IP ratio and 8.00 SO/BB ratio. He should be available here.

It’s right-hander Yu Darvish on the hill here. Darvish did not factor into the decision last Tuesday, allowing one run on three hits and four walks over five innings in an 8-6 loss to Arizona. He struck out three. Darvish is notoriously a slow starter and he was a bit erratic. Due to limited usage in the World Baseball Classic, Darvish’s season debut was pushed back, as he needed a bit more time to build up his arm. He was clearly rusty in his first start of the season following an unusual spring.

“Yeah, it is a little bit different,” Darvish said. “I usually go through the spring training and all that. Physically, I feel good. I felt fine going into the game, but it’s just that build-up of going through the spring training games and then go into going into regular season games, so it was a little bit different.”

Since his rookie 2012 season through 2022, Darvish ranked in the top 10 in a multitude of categories among all hurlers who have tossed at least 1,400 innings, including: total baserunners allowed (1,740, 1st), SO/9 IP ratio (10.81, 3rd), H/9 IP (7.23, 3rd), opponents’ AVG (.217, 3rd), XBH allowed (448, 3rd), BABIP (.282, 4th), and pitches thrown per game (99.4, 6th).

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Why Bet on NY Mets?

The Mets were trying for the home sweep of Miami on Sunday but lost 7-2. Outfielder Starling Marte exited with a strained neck in the second, one inning after he was injured stealing third base. Marte was shaken up after sliding headfirst into Jean Segura’s knee.

Mets slugger Pete Alonso has 150 career homers and is now four from tying Dave Kingman for fifth all-time in franchise history. Alonso is the second fastest player in major league history to reach the 150-career mark (538 games). Ryan Howard reached the 150-career home run mark in his 495th career game.

It’s Max Scherzer (1-1) on the mound here. Scherzer was pounded in last Tuesday’s loss to the Brewers, giving up five runs on eight hits over his 5 1/3 innings of work. The right-hander only recorded two strikeouts while issuing a pair of free passes. He had allowed just two runs through the first five innings but then served up back-to-back-to-back homers to Rowdy Tellez, Brian Anderson and Garrett Mitchell before exiting in the sixth.

Scherzer got 14 swings and misses on 95 pitches. It was just the second time in his 16-year career that he’s allowed three straight home runs. The first time was against the Diamondbacks in July of 2017 when he was the ace of the Washington Nationals.

After allowing three earned in six innings in his Opening Day start against the Marlins, Scherzer’s ERA for the season is an ugly 6.35. His go-to four-seam fastball is averaging just 93.1 mph this season, continuing a gradual velocity loss pattern that spans several years.

The last time the Mets hosted the Padres was Oct. 9, 2022, Game 3 of their wild card series. The Padres won 6-0 to eliminate New York. Trent Grisham hit an RBI single and made a terrific catch in center field for San Diego. Austin Nola and Juan Soto each had a two-run single. Scherzer lost to the Padres in Game 1 of that series and was hit hard.

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MyBookie Betting Lines for the Game