Fresh off a series win against the Tigers, the New York Mets (18-25) welcome the crosstown rival New York Yankees (27-17) to Citi Field for a Subway Series showdown. The two teams split their six games last year, with the road team taking two out of three in each instance. The Mets are 69-83 all-time in regular season play against the Yankees.
The Mets won their third series in four tries by sweeping the Tigers at Citi Field. They accomplished this feat by coming back to win each game, 10-2 on Tuesday,
3-2 on Wednesday, and 9-4 on Thursday. New York got a spark on Tuesday thanks to the promotion of top prospect A.J. Ewing, who had an incredibly fun debut with a triple, three walks, two runs batted in, and a stolen bases. After falling behind 2-0, the Mets poured it on, taking advantage of a ton of mistakes by the hapless Detroit defense, which bailed the Mets out with a few key errors and misplays that resulted in runs.
The offense returned to its lifeless state on Wednesday night, and trailed 2-0 from the first thanks to a Carson Benge misplay in right. The Mets finally evened things up in the seventh on a Bo Bichette run-scoring hit. Benge made up for his earlier mistake by driving Ewing home in the tenth to give the Mets a walk-off win and give Benge the first walk-off hit of his career.
The Mets completed the sweep with another comeback after falling in a 3-0 hole. After surrendering a three-run homer in the first, Nolan McLean settled down to give the Mets another solid start, and the bats, led by the young Mets, mounted the comeback. New York used the long ball to their advantage, as Ewing hit the first home run of his career, and Brett Baty tied it up with a two-run shot. After Juan Soto gave the Mets the lead with a run-scoring hit in the fifth, Mark Vientos provided some insurance with a two-run home run, and the Mets cruised from there. Detroit came in as the worst road team in all of baseball and left with an eight-game losing skid.
Despite the very impressive performance, the Mets have found themselves enduring even more injuries. For a team that has a small army on the injured list already, they learned they would be without Francisco Alvarez for about eight weeks after he tore his meniscus on a swing and had to undergo surgery. On top of that, Francisco Lindor is no closer to returning after the latest update, and Kodai Senga, despite throwing a bullpen, still seems quite a ways away from a return. On the bright side, Soto remained in the lineup after fouling a ball off his foot. Additionally, A.J. Minter continues to rehab, while Jared Young is slated to begin his own rehab assignment fairly soon.
The Mets are catching the Yankees at a bit of an opportune time. The Bronx Bombers began May on a five-gave winning streak but have hit a rough patch as of late, losing six of eight since then to fall into second place int he American League East. They also lost ace Max Fried to an injury this week, though it’s unclear if he’ll miss time as he recovers from elbow soreness.
It should surprise no one that the Yankees are led on offense by three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge, who leads the sport with 16 home runs. He got off to a bit of a slow start this year—slow by his standards—but he has come roaring back. The defending AL batting champion is hitting .268/.404/.618 (1.022 OPS) on the year with an AL-best 36 runs scored. His OPS currently ranks third in baseball, while his 179 wRC+ is tied with Yordan Alvarez for second. What may be a bit more surprising is who he trails—teammate Ben Rice, who has had an incredible start to his third season with the Yankees. On top of OPS and wRC+, he leads the AL in slugging as he enters play with a .303/.413/.667 slash line—all well above his career norms to date. He is also half-way to the 26 home runs he hit last year, entering play tonight with 13. That gives the Yankees a fearsome power duo in the middle of their lineup, though the rest of the lineup has not quite been able to match their prowess.
The Yankees rotation, more than anything has put them in the position they are today. As they await the return of Gerrit Cole, the rest of the rotation has been spectacular, posting a 3.14 ERA, which is good for third in baseball and second in the Al. Their 3.30 FIP, meanwhile, is best in the sport. They have also been better than any club at limiting home runs, as their rotation sports an MLB-best 0.75 HR/9. The bullpen has also been good, albeit not quite as good, with a 3.34 ERA and a 3.71 FIP, both top-1o in MLB.
Friday, May 15: Clay Holmes vs. Cam Schlittler, 7:15 PM EDT on Apple TV
Holmes (2026): 48.1 IP, 37 K, 16 BB, 3 HR, 1.86 ERA, 3.44 FIP, 48 ERA-
Holmes pitched well enough to win, but by his standards as he had one of his weakest starts of the as he battled through 5 2/3 innings while throwing a season-high 103 pitches. He endured a lot of high pitch count at-bats, which prevented him from completing six innings for the first time since his April 15 start against the Dodgers. Still, his final line was solid: two earned runs allowed on five hits, with six strikeouts and two walks. He saw his ERA tick up a bit from 1.69 to 1.86, but he still finds himself seventh in MLB and third in the NL in starter ERA.
Schlittler (2026): 53.1 IP, 59 K, 9 BB, 1 HR, 1.35 ERA, 1.64 FIP, 33 ERA-
Schlittler has established himself as an early AL Cy Young favorite with his incredible performance. He leads all AL starters in ERA and all MLB starters in FIP, and also has the best bWAR (2.5) among starting pitchers. He doesn’t walk a lot of batters, doesn’t surrender many homers, and strikes out a bunch of hitters, so he’s an all-around tough pitcher to face. His last performance was a prime example, as he shut out the Brewers over six innings of two-hit ball while striking out six and not issuing a single walk. Over his past five starts, he’s allowed just four runs (two earned) in 31 2/3 innings.
Saturday, May 16: TBD vs. Carlos Rodón, 7:15 PM EDT on FOX
TBD
The Mets have not announced their plans for Saturday’s game, but it’ll likely be another David Peterson bulk day with an opener. This has worked fairly well for Peterson, as he’s allowed five runs (two earned) on seven hits over his last nine innings as a bulk guy. More importantly, he hasn’t walked a batter in either start.
Rodón (2026): 4.1 IP, 4 K, 5 BB, 0 HR, 6.23 ERA, 5.41 FIP, 152 ERA-
Rodón made his first start of the season after recovering from elbow surgery. The left-hander, who finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting last year, was not sharp in his returning walking five over 4 1/3 innings. He allowed three earned runs on just two hits and settled for a no decision.
Sunday, April 26: Freddy Peralta vs. Ryan Weathers, 1:40 PM EDT on SNY
Peralta (2026): 49.1 IP, 50 K, 19 BB, 5 HR, 3.10 ERA, 3.67 FIP, 79 ERA-
Peralta navigated an early deficit in his last start against the Tigers and ended up completing six innings of work for the third time this season. He allowed just the two runs on seven hits, while striking out seven and walking one. As a result, he earned his third win as a Met and his second in as many starts. He will look to continue building on that positive momentum after struggling to go deep into starts in the early part of the year.
Weathers (2026): 45.0 IP, 54 K, 13 BB, 6 HR, 3.00 ERA, 3.31 FIP, 73 ERA-
Weathers spent the last three years with the Marlins before heading over to New York in a big offseason trade. He’s had a solid first few weeks with the Yankees and has been especially scintillating in his last four starts, where he’s posted a 1.88 ERA and a 2.77 FIP in 24 innings pitched. His last time out, he carried a no-hitter into the seventh and left with the lead, but ended up settling for a no decision as the Yankees’ bullpen surrendered the lead in the seventh.
