Subway Series storylines: Which struggling team will get on fast track first?
The Mets' Jeff McNeil tags out the Yankees' Anthony Rizzo at second base during the seventh inning of a game on July 26 at Citi Field. Credit: AP
The first installment of this year’s Subway Series opens Tuesday night at Citi Field, but based on the discontent brewing on both sides of the RFK Bridge, we’re not sure who’s going to feel more at home in Flushing this time around.
Let’s be real. The traditional animosity between the Mets and Yankees seems to have shifted lately to the respective fan bases, which in turn are targeting their own teams to vent their frustration.
That’s what happens when you show up in spring training as a World Series favorite and proceed to play yourself 9 1⁄2 games out of first place on June 12 (in a bit of dark serendipity, the Mets and Yankees faced the same deficit on the eve of this matchup).
But this is why the Subway Series couldn’t come at a better time for these interborough rivals (despite the buzzkill absences of Pete Alonso and Aaron Judge): The only thing Mets fans dislike more than their currently dysfunctional team is the Yankees, and vice versa. That hate is unifying, a visceral vibe to rally around. Win these games, and you can change the narrative for 48 hours, or at least get half of New York off your back.
With that in mind, here are a few storylines for Round 1 of a Subway Series that isn’t what anybody would have anticipated a few months ago.
Power outage in Queens
When Alonso (wrist) and Judge (big toe) were placed on the IL last week, each team not only lost its MVP but a good portion of its home runs.
Alonso’s 168 home runs since 2019 leads MLB during that span and Judge is second with 156 (next is the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber at 144).
Aaron Judge of the Yankees, left, and Pete Alonso of the Mets.
At the time Alonso got drilled on the wrist by Atlanta’s Charlie Morton last Wednesday, no player had hit a higher percentage of his club’s home runs than the slugging first baseman, who had 22 of the Mets’ 73 to that point (30.1%).
Judge was eighth on that MLB list after crushing 19 of the Yankees’ first 96 homers (19.8%) and also was on a ridiculous roll before his fateful crash into the Dodger Stadium fence. Since coming off his previous IL stint for a hip strain, he was hitting .325 (27-for-83) with 13 homers, 26 RBIs and a 1.313 OPS in 23 games.
The Mets won’t have Alonso, but they definitely dodged a 6-7 wrecking ball with Judge on the shelf as the Yankees struggle to score without him. They’re 3-4 since his Chavez Ravine calamity and totaled seven runs in losing this weekend’s three-game visit by the Red Sox.
Child’s play
It’s no competition when it comes to each team’s top-rated rookies.
Anthony Volpe of the Yankees, left, and Francisco Alvarez of the Mets.
The Yankees’ Anthony Volpe naturally drew comparisons to Derek Jeter when he made the Opening Day roster, but after playing in all 67 games — including 61 starts at shortstop — his current nosedive heading into the Subway Series could put his job in jeopardy.
Volpe’s 6-for-56 skid (.107) in the past 18 games has dropped him to .187 overall, the third- lowest batting average among 163 qualified players. His .260 on-base percentage is dead last.
The Mets’ Francisco Alvarez — at 21, a year younger than Volpe — was demoted in spring training. But he’s soared up the learning curve since an early April call-up and his 12 homers (in 44 games) ties him for second among all catchers with Atlanta’s Sean Murphy (one behind the Royals’ Salvador Perez). He’s also matured quickly behind the plate and has a good shot at being named an NL All-Star.
Buck stops here?
While it’s safe to say both managers have been taking considerable heat this season, Buck Showalter’s seat is definitely toastier than Aaron Boone’s with the Mets flopping to a 31-35 record, which is largely the result of their underperforming, high-priced talent and meager bullpen. Is that Showalter’s fault? Not entirely, but general manager Billy Eppler can’t fire the players, and eventually owner Steve Cohen is going to require some accountability for laying out a record $375 million for this malfunctioning group.
As for Boone, he’s again been forced to navigate through a brutal AL East with an injury-riddled roster, and the Judge-less Yankees are nine games over .500 (38-29) with a wild-card spot in hand. That’s a credit to a collaborative effort with the front office, but Boone’s relationships with the clubhouse and crew upstairs serves him well.
Buck Showalter of the Mets, left, and Aaron Boone of the Yankees.
Aces low
The Mets are sending out $86 million worth of co-aces for this Subway Series, with Max Scherzer facing Luis Severino on Tuesday night and Justin Verlander going up against former Astros rotation-mate Gerrit Cole on Wednesday.
Scherzer, at least, has rebounded from various minor afflictions and a sticky-stuff suspension to go 3-0 with a 2.35 ERA in his last five starts. As for Verlander, a 4.85 ERA in seven starts (2-3) doesn’t cut it for someone fresh off his third Cy Young Award, and getting knocked out after only three innings in Atlanta last week was inexcusable.
On the flip side, Severino went from being a certifiable No. 2 in his first two starts since coming off the IL (1.59 ERA, one homer) to a hot mess the most recent two, allowing six homers and 11 runs in nine innings. Severino’s typically dominant fastball, his signature pitch, was being used for batting practice and he was unsure why. Cole’s $36 million salary this season makes him a bargain compared to Scherzer and Verlander, not to mention worth every penny as he’s off to a 7-1 start with a 2.84 ERA.
Batting champs to chumps
Jeff McNeil’s .326 average last season led the majors and helped springboard him to a four-year, $50 million contract in the offseason. His elite bat-to-ball skills have been spotty ever since, as McNeil is hitting more than 50 points worse through 66 games and his .274 average is down nearly 30 points from his career mark. Even so, McNeil is Ted Williams compared to the Yankees’ resident batting champ, DJ LeMaheiu, who has won the crown in both leagues but is a shell of himself only three years after his 2020 title. With Judge out, the Yankees are desperate to get more from LeMahieu, who enters the Subway Series hitting .236 with a .297 on-base percentage.
$300 million for this?
So which of the two highest-paid underachievers in this Subway Series is going to step up on this biggest of regular-season stages? Will it be the Mets’ $341 million shortstop, Francisco Lindor, whose .216 average (not a misprint) and .291 on-base percentage put him in the bottom 10% of all qualified major-leaguers? Or how about the Yankees’ $325 million DH, Giancarlo Stanton, who does have five homers and 12 RBIs in 20 games but missed the other 47 because of a nagging hamstring injury?
Lindor provided one of the most memorable nights in Subway Series history with his three-homer game at Citi Field in 2021, a wild Mets victory that also featured a benches-clearing staredown between the two rivals. If anything can jump-start a player — or a team, for that matter — it’s the electricity from this series, an added jolt that only New York City’s bright lights can generate.
“That’s a playoff atmosphere without being in the playoffs,” Lindor said Sunday after the Mets wrapped a 1-5 road trip through Atlanta and Pittsburgh. “It’s a great show when two fan bases from the same city go at each other . . . I’m looking forward to it.”
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
