Although it’s been an annual occurrence for more than two decades, the Subway Series is one of baseball’s most hyped events. The series will hold greater significance this season because those games represent a full ten percent of each team’s schedule.
With the Mets and Yankees set to square off for a pair of exhibition games this weekend, let’s take a look at the most anticipated matchups between these clubs.
Dueling Aces
Make no mistake, Jacob deGrom is the best pitcher in baseball. But Gerrit Cole, who is coming off a 326-strikeout season with the Astros, is not far behind. Cole is entering his first season with the Yankees after signing a record-breaking nine-year, $324 million contract over the winter.
The pressure on these aces will be magnified due to the abbreviated 60-game schedule. Both teams have had their rotations compromised by injury: Luis Severino underwent Tommy John surgery in February, while Noah Syndergaard had the procedure done in March. With these high-impact hurlers on the shelf, every deGrom and Cole start will be viewed as a must-win affair.
The Yankees view Cole as the type of starter who could make the difference between a ticker tape parade and another October exit. Back in the 2008-2009 offseason, Brian Cashman made a similar investment when he inked CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett to contracts worth roughly $244 million combined. That rotation upgrade, combined with the production of fellow free agent signing Mark Teixeira, helped propel the Yankees to the 27th championship in franchise history. With the addition of Cole, the Yanks hope that a 28th title is on the horizon.
Jacob deGrom may be the two-time reigning Cy Young winner in the NL, but individual awards mean little to him compared to team success. The biggest question concerning deGrom is not whether he’ll perform at an elite level, but whether his team will provide him with adequate run support and defensive help. Consider this mind-boggling stat: deGrom has posted a 2.05 ERA over 64 starts since the beginning of 2018, and yet the Mets are just 28-36 in those games. Unsurprisingly, he leads the majors in batters faced with the score tied or within a run during that span. For the Mets to come out on top in a highly competitive NL East, they must play better behind their ace.
Dinger Dominance
On a superficial level, Pete Alonso and Aaron Judge are remarkably similar players. Both are physically imposing right-handed batters with preternatural power that inspires awe. And of course, the two became inextricably linked when Alonso broke Judge’s rookie home run record last season.
The difficulty in comparing the two Big Apple sluggers is that they play different positions: Judge is an outstanding defensive right fielder, and Alonso is a first baseman who — despite poor ratings by advanced metrics — has made some major improvements in the field. Alonso and Judge also differ in terms of personality, with Alonso more gregarious than his introverted crosstown counterpart.
For Alonso, the 2020 campaign will be an opportunity to prove that his historic rookie year was more than a mere fluke. The underlying numbers show why, even in a season that saw record home run totals across the league, Alonso’s power was impossible to ignore. Simply put, the man does not hit wall-scrapers. In 2019, the Polar Bear led the majors with seven home runs that traveled at least 450 feet. He also clobbered 19 dingers with an exit velocity of at least 110 miles-per-hour, tying Gary Sanchez for the MLB lead in that category.
Like Alonso, Judge combines tape-measure blasts with a tendency to swing and miss. However, Judge offsets that tendency with a disciplined eye at the plate. Since his 2017 rookie season, Judge has drawn a walk in 16.5 percent of his plate appearances, trailing only Mike Trout for the best mark in all of baseball. Health is a major concern for Judge, as injuries have caused him to miss a total of 110 games over the past two seasons. After dealing with a strained oblique in 2019, Judge was diagnosed with a fractured rib and collapsed lung in March of this year.
Judge and Alonso should both be celebrated for representing their respective organizations with class. While I have great respect for Judge and his understated demeanor, Alonso’s advanced leadership skills make him one of the sport’s finest ambassadors.
Batting Title Titans
D.J. LeMahieu was simply brilliant for the Yankees in 2019, assuaging any fears that he would be a subpar hitter outside of Coors Field. The 2016 National League batting champion made another run at a batting title, ultimately finishing second in the race to Tim Anderson of the White Sox. Signed to a bargain of a deal at two years, $24 million, LeMahieu proved to be a godsend for a Yankee club plagued by injuries. He ended up playing 40 or more games at three different positions: second base, third base, and first base.
LeMahieu enjoyed a comeback in 2019, while Jeff McNeil put together what could best be described as a breakout campaign. The man known to the Flushing Faithful as the “Flying Squirrel” led the majors in batting average at the All-Star break, then found his power stroke in the second half. McNeil played all over the diamond, alternating between infield and outfield positions with the greatest of ease.
Despite playing in New York, McNeil has yet to receive the national recognition he so richly deserves. McNeil’s bat-to-ball skills are elite, as evidenced by his minuscule career strikeout rate of 12.1%. On top of that, the Squirrel has carved out a niche for himself as the best first-pitch hitter in all of baseball. Last season, McNeil hit .421 when he put the first pitch of an at-bat into play, pacing the majors with 45 first-pitch hits and 14 first-pitch home runs. Though his offensive approach is atypical of a sabermetric darling, it demonstrates that certain players benefit from an aggressive mindset.
For more on the comparison between McNeil and LeMahieu, click here.
Searle’s Final Say
Subway Series games always generate a certain amount of electricity, and that buzz will be amplified by the abbreviated schedule in 2020. Both teams figure to be in the hunt for a postseason spot, and both are loaded with big-name talent. Perhaps the most intriguing Subway Series storyline will be the presence of Dellin Betances, who is making his Mets debut after spending his previous eight seasons with the Yankees. One of the game’s most dominant relievers when healthy, Betances’s performance could sway the balance of power from the Bronx to Queens.
Can’t get enough of the Mets-Yankees rivalry? Click here to learn more about the family legacies of each current New York manager.
