Through the end of May, the Yankees were the American’s League best team, at 40-19, and appeared flawless. Their starting pitching was the best in baseball. Their offense featured the two MVP front-runners. Clay Holmes’ ERA was 1.48.
The Yankees (52-28) are still in first place in the AL East and probably will be fine, but several injuries and a downturn in play this month have raised several questions about the team’s viability, particularly in October.
Through the end of May, the Mets were the third-worst team in the entire National League, at 24-33, and appeared flawed in every area. Their starting pitching consistently did not last long enough into games, a problem that infected their bullpen. Their core group of position players — Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor — each were hitting far below their norms. Brett Baty was their everyday third baseman and did not look much like one.
The Mets (37-39) are still not quite in playoff position, but they have moved to just one game back of a wild-card spot and are no longer shoo-ins to be trade-deadline sellers. Their offense has been baseball’s best in June — a group that features new everyday third baseman Mark Vientos — their pitching has mostly stabilized (or at least it had before Edwin Diaz’s sticky-stuff ejection in Sunday’s eventful ninth inning) and they have won 13 of 17.
The Yankees’ and Mets’ seasons have played out as if they are being weighted on a scale: one’s rise demands another’s fall. Still, there are a few commonalities between the two, whose seasons will collide when the Subway Series begins Tuesday:
Both are wondering who is the closer in September/October.
Teams on both sides of town undoubtedly need bullpen help, the Yankees’ unit suffering plenty of injuries that have created holes, the Mets’ overtaxed and needing better arms. But questions have cropped up about a pair of ninth-inning men who, at their best, have been among the best in baseball.
Diaz was the best in baseball in 2022, when he was part showman and part the man. Diaz was untouchable in the magical and musical season, earned a $102 million pact ahead of the 2023 campaign and then tore a patellar tendon during the World Baseball Classic.
Diaz returned this season before his best fastball and his best slider did, and was too often knocked around in the first few months of the 2024 season — before a wrench was tossed Sunday into a machine that already was rattling.
Diaz was ejected from the eventual 5-2 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field before throwing a pitch. During a standard sticky-stuff inspection — the kind that Diaz routinely passed after they were implemented in 2021 and continued in 2022 — Diaz was found with a hand that were deemed too sticky by crew chief Vic Carapazza (“We’ve checked thousands of these. I know what that feeling is. This was very sticky,” Carapazza said).
The Mets will be without their closer — and will have to play a man down — for 10 games. When Diaz returns, he will face questions about how much substances — even if the substances used were just rosin, sweat and dirt, as Diaz argued — played a role in his excellence on the mound. A complicated situation has grown more complex.
Even before the ejection, the Mets’ bullpen faced real questions. The unit has lost top lefty Brooks Raley and top lefty prospect Nate Lavender for the season and could use another southpaw. How about pushing in a few chips for Marlins lefty Tanner Scott? Maybe Scott — or another pitcher of his ilk — becomes a quality setup man. Or maybe Diaz’s struggles continue on the other side of the suspension, and the Mets would be forced to make a change to their late-inning approach.
Holmes’ peak has never reached Diaz’s, but the Yankees’ shutdown closer appeared in line for his second career All-Star Game before this season got sidetracked.
Before a scoreless inning Sunday, the groundball specialist had allowed runs in his three previous outings and blown three games since May 20, a stretch in which he held a 6.75 ERA. No one in baseball is better than Holmes, with a sinker that plunges beneath barrels, at inducing ground balls — but sometimes those grounders find holes. Holmes has not been hit hard, but occasionally he does get hit regardless.
The Yankees are 1-5 in extra-inning games, and the ghost runner disproportionately hurts pitchers such as Holmes. With an automatic runner on second, two ground balls can (and often do) score a run; with a strikeout artist, those sacrifices are harder to pull off.
There is a real argument for the Yankees to find a back-end arm who works in tandem with Holmes and who is better equipped to generate whiffs.
Both are wondering what to do with an aging veteran who is no longer hitting.
The Jeff McNeil problem might be the largest facing the Mets, and the way the club handles the situation will reveal plenty about David Stearns and Carlos Mendoza.
McNeil has been a stalwart on the field and in the clubhouse since he debuted — and hit immediately — in 2018. The second baseman was an All-Star in 2019 and 2022, the latter season including an NL batting crown, and even after a down 2023, he entered this campaign with a lifetime .298 average.
Now 32, McNeil’s batting average is down to .212, he’s smacked just three home runs in 69 games and his defense also has regressed, largely because he has lost a step. In a lineup that has taken flight this month, McNeil has remained grounded. He already has been demoted from everyday second baseman to platoon second baseman, and his platoon partner (Jose Iglesias) is batting .400 through 14 games and has the better glove.
Repeatedly, Mendoza has maintained McNeil is his second baseman — but the club is reaching a point where a tough decision probably must be made. Does a player owed $31.5 million in 2025 and 2026 become a bench piece? It’s a tricky predicament that the Yankees share, even if Anthony Rizzo’s injury has clarified the situation a bit.
Rizzo has been named to three All-Star games, has a contract that counts $20 million against the luxury tax this year and is a well-respected, 14-year veteran with a World Series ring. But he is also a 34-year-old whose .630 OPS ranked 12th-worst in all of baseball entering play Sunday.
The Yankees were not sure what to do with Rizzo, who earlier this month was given a couple days off to clear his head — a respite that didn’t work — before he fractured his forearm in a collision June 16. Rizzo will be out around eight weeks — bringing him to the other side of the trade deadline — and the Yankees will have to decide whether they can trust a beloved figure in their clubhouse to handle first base for the stretch run and the postseason.
Ben Rice’s performance over the next month-plus — along with what the Yankees get from the just-acquired J.D. Davis — will be another factor to weigh.
Among the expected first basemen on the trade block: the Marlins’ Josh Bell.
Both are wondering what to do with an injured slugger who cannot play the field.
It increasingly appears that the Yankees are stuck with Giancarlo Stanton and the Mets are stuck with Starling Marte (for a varying amount of time, of course).
Even a slimmed-down Stanton, running a bit more freely this season, could not escape another serious soft-tissue injury. The Yankees’ DH exited Saturday’s game with a left hamstring strain that he said Sunday would cost him around a month.
Stanton has enjoyed a comeback season with 18 home runs and a .795 OPS in 69 games, but he has not played the outfield once. The 34-year-old, who is still due $66 million from 2025-27, has been valuable this season, but his presence forced Aaron Judge to play the outfield every day. For the next month, the club’s captain can receive half days off at DH.
Marte does not have the bat that Stanton wields, but had put together a comeback season of his own (.745 OPS, 12 steals in 66 games) before right knee soreness forced him from Saturday’s game and kept him out of Sunday’s. The Mets are hoping he can avoid an IL stint. Any further hindrance to Marte’s mobility would be critical.
With J.D. Martinez around, the Mets cannot afford to employ Marte as a designated hitter. So Marte, clearly limited since 2022 groin surgery, has continued to play right field and has been a liability there. Marte’s negative-9 Outs Above Average ranked as the fourth-worst among any fielder — not just outfielders — entering play Sunday. So many bloop hits have fallen in between Marte and McNeil, two vets not running like they used to.
The Mets don’t have much of a choice but to play Marte, at least when healthy. His bat has made him playable — encouraging for a player who has one more season on a $78 million pact — even if his defense has been harmful.
Both are wondering whether a buried former top prospect can revive his standing.
Entering the 2023 season, Baty was the 21st-best prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, after a monstrous 2022 that brought him to his major league debut.
Entering the 2023 season, Oswald Peraza was the 52nd-best prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, after a monstrous 2022 that brought him to his major league debut.
Little has gone right for either player since.
Baty grabbed the Mets’ everyday third base job both of the past two seasons, but owns a career .215/.282/.325 slash line in the major leagues. Baty’s glove has improved, but his bat has not shown enough to be a major league option, and he was replaced by Vientos in late May.
Peraza was replaced a bit sooner, getting jumped in the shortstop line by Anthony Volpe during the spring in 2023. Volpe performed as Peraza stalled, never able to take advantage of the occasional call-ups that season (.539 major league OPS) and beginning this season slowly (.604 minor league OPS).
Peraza was recalled Sunday and appeared to be getting a glimmer of a chance in the wake of Stanton’s and Rizzo’s injuries, but that chance did not last. The Yankees traded for Davis, the former Met, who will see time at first base. Peraza, who might have filled in at third, promptly was demoted after the 3-1 loss to the Braves.
Baty, meanwhile, continues to punish Triple-A pitching, but his next call-up does not appear imminent. Vientos is playing well, running with the job in a way Baty never did.
Another avenue, though, might be opening at second, where Baty has played three times with Triple-A Syracuse amid McNeil’s extended struggles.
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Best two words in sports
Here’s rooting for overtime.
An all-time Stanley Cup Final returns to Florida for Game 7 on Monday night (8 p.m. ET, ABC), where the Panthers will be desperate to avoid history and the Oilers desperate to repeat it.
Never in NBA history has a team come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. Only the 2004 Red Sox have performed the feat in MLB (we forget which team they beat). And now Edmonton will attempt to become the first NHL team in a decade — since the 2014 Kings roared back against the collapsing Sharks in the first round — to bury itself after three games but emerge after seven in a playoff series. Not since the Maple Leafs in 1942 — we’re talking during WWII — has a team won a Stanley Cup after trailing by three in the series.
All eyes will be on Connor McDavid, the all-world superstar who is having a playoff run reminiscent of Wayne Gretzky.
All eyes will be on Sergei Bobrovksy, who has not been a problem in net for the Panthers, but who will be asked to do more in a game that means the most.
The Panthers have trailed after the first period of each of the past three games and badly need to get off to a quicker start. Trailing in Game 7 — and moving that much closer to an all-time embarrassment — would be all the more mentally draining.
As for hockey-neutral fans in the New York area: Let’s see an extra period.
Better Angel
Angel Reese scored a career-best 25 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and broke a tie with a layup with 53 seconds left. Caitlin Clark went 5-of-9 from 3, scored 17 points and set a single-game franchise record with 13 assists.
After the Fever grabbed the first two games of the season matchup, Round 3 went to Reese’s Sky, 87-88. The showdowns between the two nationally relevant WNBA superstars have lived up to the expectations.
The only problem? It will be hard for the two to collide in the playoffs — with the Sky (6-9) moving into the eighth and final spot with the win and the Fever (7-11) dropping out.
Reese was the more dominant rookie Sunday, when she extended her own rookie record by recording a double-double in an eighth consecutive game. Clark held her own and played every minute of a game in which fans went to see her (and Reese) play.
Among the stars at the hot ticket of a game in Chicago: Jalen Brunson, Sheryl Swoopes, Chance the Rapper, Jason Sudeikis and Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.
People care. They will care even more when Reese’s and Clark’s teams are good.
What we’re reading 👀
⚾ For a new Sports+ exclusive feature, The Post’s Greg Joyce spoke to an array of people around the Yankees to cover the rise of Luis Gil from raw flame-throwing prospect to Rookie of the Year candidate.
🏒 The Post’s Larry Brooks examines the Rangers future of Jacob Trouba, writing he does not foresee a buyout for the captain and $8M defenseman who struggled in the postseason.
⚽ Christian Pulisic fittingly supplied a goal and an assist as the United States opened the Copa America on home soil with a 2-0 win over Bolivia.
🏀 The Liberty moved into first place in the WNBA at 15-3 with an emphatic win in Atlanta. Next up is the Commissioner’s Cup final.
⚽ Gotham FC’s nine-match unbeaten streak came to an end.
🏈 What’s behind the hype for the Jets’ defensive line?
🏈 An evening for Giants nostalgia also illuminated the pressure on this year’s team, writes The Post’s Paul Schwartz.
⛳ Scottie Scheffler won his sixth tournament of the season at the Travelers Championship — only after play on the 18th hole was disrupted by climate protesters.
🏃♀️ Sprint superstar Sha’Carri Richardson booked a ticket to Paris.
