New York Yankees vs. New York Mets: Series Preview
06/25/2024 08:30 AM
The Subway Series returns for 2024, starting with a two-gamer in Queens.
The Yankees finished off a disappointing homestand, and now they're back on the move, though they didn't have to go far for their first opponent of this road trip. It's time for the Subway Series and a faceoff with the hometown rival Mets, who have been in the midst of a strange halfway-in, halfway out year so far.
The Mets had high hopes once Steve Cohen took over the team and brought in bags full of money, and the 2022 team that he spent heaps on sure seemed to be on track to deliver after earning 101 wins in the regular season. A quick exit in the Wild Card round brought them back to the drawing board though, and a turbulent 75-win 2023 flipped the script entirely. That team sold off at the deadline with an uncertain view of where they'd be this year, and it's shown so far: they're a middling 37-39 in fourth place in the NL East, but a wide-open Wild Card race has them only 1.5 games out of a playoff spot.
June has been a good month for them, however, as they've gone on an 11-6 swing overall and won nine of their last 11 games. They've had some solid pickups contribute including former Yankee Luis Severino, and they continue to headline Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor atop their lineup, but we're here to focus on the pitchers for this short two-game set. Let's see how these teams are going to match up:
Tuesday: Gerrit Cole vs. David Peterson (7:10 p.m. ET)
Cole takes the mound for the second time this season looking to build off of a decent debut to his abridged season. The reigning AL Cy Young winner was tasked with facing the Orioles lineup last Wednesday in his first appearance since suffering irritation in his right elbow and tossed 62 pitches, getting four innings deep in the process. Cole showed off the polish that won him the hardware last year, earning five strikeouts while walking just one, but he did allow two runs to cross the plate in a game the Yankees ultimately dropped in extras.
Peterson also had a late start to the year, though the Mets knew he'd be on the shelf going into the season after he had hip surgery back in November. He's gotten into four games since rehabbing his way back, and has gotten decent results: 22.2 innings he has a 3.97 ERA. However, the underlying numbers aren't so pretty — he's allowed 24 hits and eight walks in that time with just 12 strikeouts, so hitters are getting a good look at what's coming out of his glove and have narrowly avoided doing major damage. That being said, his latest start against Texas was a strong six innings of work, so perhaps he's still getting into the swing of things.
Wednesday: Luis Gil vs. Sean Manaea (7:20 p.m. ET)
Gil's been the best pitcher on the Yankees' staff in Cole's absence, but he's been getting away with some spotty control and it came to a head in his latest start against the Orioles. Simply put, he imploded for seven runs in 1.1 innings, skyrocketing his ERA to a 2.77 mark — still excellent, but no longer top-of-the-league. Overall Gil's been excellent, so we'll see if he bounces back strong after the biggest blunder of his short career.
Manaea's one of the veterans the Mets brought in to fill out their rotation in the offseason, and he's been very serviceable so far. In 14 starts he's gotten through 71.1 innings and struck out 73 while walking 29, good for a 4.16 ERA. Part of his success has been his continued effectiveness at cutting down his home run rate, dipping below a 1.00 HR/9 rate for the first time since 2019. In his last outing, Texas got three runs off of him in 5.2 innings for one of the few losses the Mets have faced of late.
