The New York Mets (7-12) head to Wrigley Field for a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs (9-9).
Chicago is coming off a series victory against Philadelphia and has won three of the last four contests. In the past seven games and six days, Chicago’s offense has been one of the hottest. The Cubs are hitting .292 over the last week (third-best) and tied 10th with 40 RBI.
The Mets are one of the coldest teams in the MLB. New York has lost eight consecutive games and have been outscored 44-12 in that span. New York ranks last in the MLB with a .169 batting average over the last seven days and second-fewest home runs (4).
Lets dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the information and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest details on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats and of course, our predictions, picks and best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details and how to watch Mets at Cubs
- Date: Friday, April 17, 2026
- Time: 2:20 p.m. EST
- Site: Wrigley Field
- City: Chicago, IL
- Network/Streaming: MLB TV
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team statistics and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Odds for Mets vs. Cubs
The latest odds as of Friday:
- Moneyline: Chicago Cubs (-150), New York Mets (+124)
- Spread: Cubs -1.5 (+119), Mets +1.5 (-144)
- Total: 10.0
Probable starting pitchers for Mets at Cubs
- Friday’s pitching matchup (April 17): Kodai Senga vs. Edward Cabrera
- Mets: Kodai Senga
2026 stats: 14.0 IP, 0-2, 7.07 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, 19 Ks, 7 BB
2026 Stats: 16.2 IP, 1-0, 1.62 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 13 Ks, 9 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not?
- The Mets’ Francisco Alvarez is hitting .271 with 13 hits, 26 total bases and four home runs over 48 at-bats
- The Mets’ Francisco Lindor is hitting .184 with 14 hits, 16 strikeouts and 10 walks over 76 at-bats
- The Cubs’ Nico Hoerner is hitting .324 with 23 hits, 36 total bases and 18 RBIs over 71 at-bats
- The Cubs’ Michael Busch is hitting .148 with nine hits, 14 strikeouts, and nine walks over 61 at-bats
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Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Mets at Cubs
- The Cubs are 7-11 ATS this season
- The Padres are 7-12 ATS this season
- The Cubs are 11-6-1 to the Over this season
- The Mets are 8-9-2 to the Over this season
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks and predictions for tonight’s game between Mets and Cubs
Rotoworld Bet Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Friday’s game between the Mets and the Cubs.
- Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Cubs on the Moneyline.
- Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Cubs at -1.5.
- Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Over on the Game Total of 10.0
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- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
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- Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
- Trysta Krick (@Trysta_Krick)
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