Mets return home to kick off Round 1 of 2024 Subway Series (2024)

After a 4-2 road trip, the Mets (37-39) return to Citi Field to kick off a five-game homestand with three against the Yankees (52-28). The two teams split four games last year, and have played to a draw in five of the past six Subway Series—the lone outlier came when the Mets took four of six in 2021. Each team won a game at home and a game on the road last year. The Mets are 63-84 all-time against the Yankees, including the 2000 World Series.

The Mets find themselves one game back in the crowded NL Wild Card race after taking two of three from the Cubs, which moved them ahead of Chicago in the standings and also gave them a much-needed season series tiebreaker, which could factor in at year’s end. The series kicked off with an improbable rout against NL Rookie of the Year frontrunner and Cy Young hopeful Shōta Imanaga, resulting in an 11-1 victory. The Mets jumped on the rookie sensation, scoring ten runs against him in three-plus innings of work, including homers from J.D. Martinez, Francisco Alvarez, and Brandon Nimmo, resulting in a laugher.

The Cubs got the last laugh on Saturday, enacting their revenge in the form of an easy 8-1 victory. Chicago pounded Tylor Megill early, getting five runs on him in the first. Megill settled down and was able to complete three, but he had put the Mets in far too deep a hole for them to climb out of. The lone offense came in the form of an Alvarez solo homer off Jameson Taillon, the lone blemise in an otherwise spotless afternoon for the Chicago hurler.

The Mets earned a 5-2 victory on Sunday Night Baseball to escape Chicago with a series win, but it proved to be a costly victory for New York, who will be without closer Edwin Díaz for ten games after he was ejected for using a sticky substance. Before we got to that point, New York built up their lead thanks to homers from Francisco Lindor, Nimmo, and Mark Vientos. Luis Severino was stellar, tossing six shutout innings while striking out ten batters for the first time since 2022—incidentally, also against the Cubs. The score was 5-2 heading into the ninth, when the trumpets sounded (metaphorically, it being a road game and all) and Díaz entered out of the pen. However, upon being inspected by the umpires, it was deemed his hands and glove were too sticky to proceed, and he was promptly ejected, forcing Drew Smith to secure the save for the Mets.

The ejection and suspension loom large for New York, who will now be without their closer for ten games. Sugar has struggled mightily in his return from injury this year, although he has looked better since being activated from his recent IL stint. Since coming back, he’s tossed three shutout innings, securing two saves and picking up a win. The Mets’ bullpen struggled in his short absence but has looked better as of late. Since Díaz’s return from injury on June 12—which, not-so-coincidentally, coincides with the team’s recent 9-2 stretch, the Mets’ bullpen owns the best ERA (1.96) and FIP (2.65) in MLB. The Mets will look to guys like Reed Garrett, Adam Ottavino, and the aforementioned Smith, among others, to close out games while they await Díaz’s suspension to end.

The Yankees have been one of baseball’s premiere teams this year, although they’ve hit a bit of a rough patch as of late. They enter this series as losers of four of their last five, six of their last eight, and seven of their last ten contests. They come into this series after dropping two of three to the Braves, which followed a series loss to the Orioles.

Despite the recent struggle, one player who has remain scorching-hot is Aaron Judge, who has been the talk of the baseball world this year for what he has done over the past 50+ games. Since falling to a season-low .174 batting average and .645 OPS on April 22, he has put together an unprecedented run of dominance, slashing .356/.473/.840 with 25 homers, 52 runs scored, 59 runs batted in, a .485 ISO, a 258 wRC+, and a 5.1 fWAR in 55 games. He leads all of MLB in every single one of those categories, some by substantial margins (for reference, the next-highest wRC+ is Bryce Harper at 183, and the next-best fWAR is Gunnar Henderson at 4.0.

Not to be overlooked, Juan Soto has also had a solid year for the Yankees as he works towards a big contract this offseason. The former Nationals star (and future Mets slugger?) is putting up ho hum numbers in the Bronx, slashing .305/.431/.563 with 18 homers, a team-high 62 runs scored, a 183 wRC+ (second to Judge’s 206) and a 4.6 fWAR (again, second to Judge’s 5.2) in 77 games.

Tuesday, June 25: David Peterson vs. Gerrit Cole at 7:10 PM EDT on SNY

Peterson (2024): 22.2 IP, 12 K, 8BB, 2 HR, 3.97 ERA, 4.56 FIP, 103 ERA-

Peterson was originally slated to face the Cubs, but was pushed back to Tuesday because Carlos Mendoza liked how he matched up against some of the lefty bats in the Yankees’ lineup. Peterson picked up a win in his third consecutive start his last time out, and it was one of his best starts of the year. Against the Rangers, he went six innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits, walking three and striking out six. He was the beneficiary of an offensive outburst, as the Mets scored 14 runs, so he never really had to sweat, but he still did well to hold a solid offense at bay.

Cole (2024): 4.0 IP, 5 K, 1 BB, 0 HR, 4.50 ERA, 1.40 FIP, 116 ERA-

Cole made his long-awaited season debut against the Orioles after missing almost three months. Given the initial prognosis, him pitching at all this season was a huge relief, and the results hardly mattered as much as seeing their ace take the major league mound. With that said, he was solid against a very tough Baltimore team, allowing two earned runs on three hits, with one walk and five strikeouts over four innings. He tossed 62 pitches, with 41 of them going for strikes. You have to imagine Aaron Boone and the Yankees will remain cautious with their ace, as they need him healthy for the playoffs, so expect him to increase his pitch count but still not be allowed to go too deep into his second start.

Wednesday, June 26: Sean Manaea vs. Luis Gil at 7:10 PM EDT on SNY

Manaea (2024): 71.1 IP, 73 K, 29 BB, 7 HR, 4.16 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 108 ERA-

After picking up his fourth win of the season against the Padres on June 14, Manaea came one out short of registering a quality start and ended up pitching in a losing effort (although he ended up with a no decision). Manaea gave up a run in the first against Texas on a bases loaded hit by pitch, and then held the Rangers scoreless until the sixth. After giving up a one-out single, he surrendered a double that allowed the second run to score, and the now-injured Sean Reid-Foley allowed the inherited runner to score. In all, he was charged with three earned runs on just two hits, with six strikeouts and three walks in 5 ²⁄₃ innings.

Gil (2024): 81.1 IP, 97 K, 41 BB, 6 HR, 2.77 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 71 ERA-

Gil is coming off easily the worst start of not only his season, but his major league career. The right-hander, who has put together a tremendous rookie campaign—he did record a handful of starts in 2021 and 2022, but still qualifies as a rookie—was shelled for seven earned runs in just 1 ¹⁄₃ innings against Baltimore. As a result, his ERA spiked from 2.03, which led the AL at the time, to 2.77. He also served up a season-high eight hits. Despite that, Gil has been a breath of fresh air for the Yankees, dominating after missing all of last year and most of 2022 while recovering from Tommy John Surgery.