Braves vs Mets Free Pick, MLB Free Picks, MLB Predictions 6/24/25

ATLANTA @ NY METS (ATL -150, 8.5)

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Braves vs Mets Free Pick, MLB Free Picks, MLB Predictions 6/24/25

BRAVES @ METS 6/24/25

Tonight, Frankie Montas will finally make his New York Mets debut. When he returns, the struggling Mets can only hope he's almost as good as the rival Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. The clubs will play the second game of a four-game series between the National League East rivals Tuesday night in New York.

Montas will take on fellow right-hander Spencer Strider (2-5, 3.89 ERA), who was sidelined at the start of the season due to a right lat injury sustained during spring training. Acuna hit a home run and Spencer Schwellenbach pitched seven solid innings as the Braves won 3-2 on Monday night, the Mets' ninth defeat in the last ten games.

The Philadelphia Phillies, who led the East and were off Monday, are now 1.5 games ahead of the Mets after the loss. At 45-24 on June 12, New York had the best baseball record and was 5.5 games ahead of Philadelphia.

The current 1–9 run is their worst 10-game streak since New York lost nine of ten games in early June of 2023. The Mets have been batting poorly during the slump, hitting just .215 and the pitching staff hasn’t done much better with an ERA of 6.02 during the streak.

The top three batters in the lineup, Juan Soto, Brandon Nimmo, and Francisco Lindor, went 4-for-11 on Monday, including a two-run home run from Soto. However, the hitters in fourth through ninth place only went 1-for-21.

Paul Blackburn, the starter, became the ninth starting pitcher for the Mets to last five innings or less in the previous ten games. He gave up all three Atlanta runs in 4.2 innings.

Montas will need to be far better on Tuesday than he was during his rehabilitation, when he recorded a 12.05 ERA in six starts. Montas signed a two-year, $34 million contract with the Mets last December. Both Mendoza and David Stearns, president of baseball operations, expressed optimism that Montas' difficulties were due to his treatment of the rehabilitation as spring training.

Acuna has been playing very well since coming back from the knee injury that ended his 2024 season. He was the NL Rookie of the Year in 2018 and NL MVP in 2023 after becoming the first player in MLB history to record at least 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases in a single season. Since his return on May 23, three days before the one-year anniversary of his injury, he has hit .396 with nine home runs in 28 games.

Strider will start against the Mets for the second consecutive game. In the Braves' 7-1 victory at home last Thursday, he earned the victory by giving up just one run in six innings.

In his two career starts against the Braves, Montas has a 7.56 ERA and is 0-0. Strider has faced the Mets nine times (seven starts) and is 5-1 with a 4.91 ERA.

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COACH RICK FREE PICK:

BRAVES TEAM TOTAL OVER 4.5

This is not a number that the Braves hit very often, but tonight they face Montas making his season debut. His rehab starts were terrible - 12.05 ERA in six starts. He has awful numbers against the Braves in his career - 7.56 ERA. The Mets bullpen is struggling. Over the last 10 games, Mets relievers have a 6.06 ERA. While the Braves have only scored 5 or more runs in 38 percent of their games this season, they have hit this team total in 6 of the last 8 games against the Mets. They are 4-0 against New York this season and they’ve gone Over this number three times.