A Tale Of Two Teams In Citi

Well, the first portion of the drama known to New York baseball fans as “The Subway Series” has concluded its two night stand in Queens. For one team it was sweet. For the other, so many questions remained. 

Mets fans are rejoicing, having swept the supposed “Best Team in Baseball,” their cross-city rival from the Bronx. This gave the Mets faithful validation that their team could play with anybody—not that they really needed that. After all, the Mets did beat the Atlanta Braves recently, as the Braves are both the defending World Champions and the closest pursuer in the NL East. 

The Mets did it with pitching. Starters Tyjuan Walker and Max Scherzer were in good form and the Mets bullpen, not as star-studded as the Yankees pen, did their job in holding the vaunted Yankees bats in check. 

The Mets did it with defense. More than once, a fielder came up with a gem, squelching a potential Yankees rally. 

And the Mets did it with hitting. Timely base hits to offset the big bats of the Yankees on Tuesday night. Same thing on Wednesday, capped by a walk off hit to secure another victory.

Now I am not going to say that the Mets weren’t without some luck, too. Some pretty hard hit balls repeatedly ended up in the gloves of Mets players. Balls which might have been out of the playing field in right at Yankee Stadium were long and loud outs. 

There was no question in my mind that, for two nights, the Mets were simply the better team. Not that the Yankees aren’t a really good team. They are. 

It was the Mets who came out ahead because they wanted it more. The waves of emotion from the team and the fans were symbolic of a need to slay the giant opponent from that “Evil Empire.”

In watching the games, which, for a Yankees fan like me, was difficult, I tried to be objective despite my partisanship. I looked at both lineups and I found neither to be frightening. 

Sure, the Yankees have Aaron Judge, who has crushed 38 home runs in the team’s first 99 games, placing his name with Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in the pantheon of Yankees greats who have clubbed as many at that stage of the season. Unfortunately, one man does not make a team. 

While Anthony Rizzo contributed some offense as he still sported a batting average in the .220’s and Gleyber Torres hit a homer on Wednesday night, there is little consistency with the NYY hitters. Perhaps the most telling statistic is that Isiah Kiner-Falefa, the light hitting shortstop, has constructed a 14 game hitting streak. That streak is the longest by a Yankee this year. Yet Manager Aaron Boone pinch hit for IKF on Tuesday, and Joey Gallo, tied to a .160 average, obviously struck out in a very wasted at bat. 

I found that Boone was making moves which didn’t necessarily make sense, unless you felt that you had to jolt your team from its recent doldrums. Yanking starter Jordan Montgomery in the fourth inning on Tuesday night, left the pitcher and others dumbfounded. Pinch hitting Jose Trevino for Kyle Higashioka on Wednesday night was another gross miscalculation when Trevino struck out. 

Plus I knew the game was over on Wednesday night when Boone elected to bring in All Star closer Clay Homes to pitch the 8th inning with the score tied 2-2. This left Wandy Peralta to come in in the 9th inning. Peralta is not close to Holmes and this graphically highlighted what the loss of set up man Michael King has done to the Yankees bullpen. 

Granted, the Yankees went to Citi Field without Giancarlo Stanton, once more on the IL, this time with Achilles tendon issues. One big bat out of the way for the Mets; one big loss of a thumper for the Yankees. 

Stanton’s absence caused the Yankees to put Matt Carpenter in right field for both games. Carpenter’s weak arm gifted the Mets a run. Moreover, Carpenter is now starting to show signs that his hitting rampage may be coming to an end.

With an outfield of Aaron Hicks, a center fielder in left, Judge, normally a right fielder not entrenched in center and Carpenter, Gallo, Marwin Gonzalez and Tim Locastro not the answers, GM Brian Cashman pulled the trigger on a deal, acquiring Kansas City All Star Anthony Benintendi to put in left field, shifting Hicks to the right side of the outfield. 

Benintendi may be no more than a rental. Although he brings a .320 average with him, the former World Champion with Boston might not be enough to right the ship. Gallo needs to go. Stanton, when healthy, will still need to play the field, which tends to make his bat more productive. 

There still is the quandary in the infield. D.J. LeMahieu is hitting like he did in 2020. His batting average is second only to Judge, and the duo forms a daunting one-two punch for the Yankees. 

But where to find playing time for Carpenter, Rizzo, Torres, Josh Donaldson and the versatile LeMahieu is a delicate balance when Judge cannot play every day, and you can only have one player as the designated hitter. Besides LeMahieu, someone’s bat has to get hot and demand continued at bats. 

Moreover, the pitching seems to be on a downward trend. Montgomery’s short hook is troublesome. The loss of Luis Severino from the rotation is a blow, even Domingo German looked much better than his first outing in Houston. Jameson Taillon has a 10-2 record and Yankees fans hold their breath when he takes the mound. “Nasty” Nestor Cortes pitched great versus Baltimore last weekend; he is in uncharted waters concerning innings pitched. Ace Gerrit Cole suffered the lone loss in Baltimore. Will he bounce back?

Add in the uncertainty of the bullpen with Aroldis Chapman and Jonathan Loasiga, both who looked good against the Mets, but still are question marks as to confidence and reliability. Rob Marinaccio, who suffered some shoulder fatigue is back and looking good—but he is really untested, too. 

The Yankees may have an 11 game lead over the somewhat surging Blue Jays with 63 games to go. The AL East still is the toughest division in baseball, as the Red Sox, mired in a 5-14 slide are still only 3.5 games from a Wild Card slot despite being in fifth place. 

All of this makes Yankees fans fidgety. It is clear that the Astros are much better—they won handily when facing both the Yankees AND the Mets this year. The Yankees need to make a big splash somewhere if they are to realistically have a chance to win that elusive World Series title. What it will be remains the question.

Meanwhile, the Mets have pitching, and that starting rotation will be augmented by the return of multiple Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom. His appearance is like getting an arm from another source. If he can pitch close to his past capabilities, the Mets will be a formidable team. In a division where two teams, Miami and Washington are below .500, and the Braves and Phillies are in prime position to make the post-season.

Even with Pete Alonso driving in runs in droves and Starling Marte hitting over .300, who is to say that Steve Cohen is just going to sit on the sidelines and let the Yankees get better and grab all of the headlines. Highly unlikely. 

Here was my one resounding thought watching the first part of the Subway Series. The teams we saw this week may not resemble the teams we see when they meet again at Yankee Stadium in August. By that time, we might have a better idea which team may ultimately do more damage in the playoffs and be able to hold their own against Houston and the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

For those nights in Queens, it was a tale of two teams in Citi.