The latest Subway Series comes with much more on the line than bragging rights for the Yankees and Mets.
Both teams, built with win-now rosters filled with expensive veterans, enter this week’s two-game set at Yankee Stadium outside of the postseason picture and running out of time to establish themselves as the contenders many expected them to be.
For the Yankees (53-47), Tuesday and Wednesday’s games represent the final soft spots on their schedule before back-to-back-to-back series against the likely postseason-bound Orioles, Rays and Astros.
The Yankees are coming off a three-game sweep of the 28-73 Royals, but they’re still just 8-11 in July and two games behind the Blue Jays for the third and final American League Wild Card spot.
“Any team we play, we need to make sure we’re ready to go in this clubhouse before we take the field,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said after going 4-for-4 in Sunday’s win. “The Mets coming, it’s going to be exciting. The fans will be into it. They’re a team that wants more, and so are we.”
For the Mets (46-53), the Subway Series could serve as a final litmus test before the front office decides whether to buy or sell before the Aug. 1 trade deadline. Fresh off a pair of deflating losses to the Red Sox, the Mets are seven games out of the last National League Wild Card spot and would have to jump five teams to qualify for the postseason.
Still, it could be tough for owner Steve Cohen to give up on the $360-million Mets, the most-expensive team in MLB history. The roster probably has few, if any, impact trade pieces, unless a team proves willing to take on 40-year-old ace Justin Verlander, who is guaranteed $43.3 million next season.
The Yankees and Mets split last month’s two-game set at Citi Field. The Mets played without star slugger Pete Alonso, who is back but hitting just .186 with two home runs in July. The Yankees were without reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, who remains out with a torn ligament in his right big toe.
Verlander pitched well in the first series, limiting the Yankees to one run over six innings in an eventual Mets win.
Verlander, who left the Astros in the offseason, is set to start Tuesday night. The reigning AL Cy Young winner is in his best stretch with the Mets, pitching to a 1.74 ERA over his last five starts.
“It doesn’t matter who they got going,” the Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton said Sunday. “We got a job to do. We got to trust ourselves and do what we need to do, and get two wins out of that.”
The Yankees will send Domingo German, who’s pitched to a 4.41 ERA and hasn’t picked up a win since hurling the 24th perfect game in MLB history last month.
Wednesday’s game will feature a matchup of veteran left-handers who recently made their season debuts after prolonged injury absences. Carlos Rodon, who is 0-3 in the first year of a $162 million deal, will pitch for the Yankees. Jose Quintana, who last week allowed three runs in five innings against the White Sox in his first start of 2023, will go for the Mets.
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