Building an all-Subway Series roster, rotation as Mets and Yankees prepare for two games at Citi Field
Building an all-Subway Series roster, rotation as Mets and Yankees prepare for two games at Citi Field
The first leg of the 2024 Subway Series kicks off Tuesday night at Citi Field as the New York Mets host the crosstown rival New York Yankees for the first of two games. Two games at Citi Field this week, two games at Yankee Stadium from July 23-24. The Mets have won eight of the last 14 Subway Series games since 2021, including five of seven in Queens.
"It's New York City. Biggest, greatest city in the world. Two great franchises," Yankees manager Aaron Boone told the New York Post about playing the Mets. "Over the course of 162 games, it adds a little different kind of buzz and excitement and break in the normal monotony of the season. I think it's exciting for the players on both teams, certainly the fan bases and certainly the city. Doing it in the summertime -- obviously the Mets are starting to play good baseball here. So I think it's something we always look forward to."
The Mets had baseball's worst record in May (9-19) and now they have baseball's best record in June (13-6). They've won 13 of their last 17 games, but still sit two games under .500 at 37-39. That's good enough to be only 1.5 games behind the NL's third wild-card spot. The Yankees have baseball's third-best record at 52-28. They've lost seven of their last 10 games and four of their last five series, however. The Mets are flying high heading into the Subway Series. The Yankees are reeling a bit.
Here are the details for this week's Yankees vs. Mets series at Citi Field. Select games can be streamed on fuboTV (try for free).
| Date | Start time | Starting pitchers | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
The Mets rearranged their rotation last week and Luis Severino will not face his former team this series. He started Sunday night. The rotation moves were not about Severino specifically. The Yankees have been much better against righties (.782 OPS) than lefties (.699 OPS) this season, and the Mets wanted Peterson and Manaea to pitch in the Subway Series.
There are plenty of Yankees-Mets connections on the two rosters. The Yankees just picked up former MetJ.D. Davis and added him to Phil Bickford, Michael Tonkin, and Marcus Stroman, all of who played for the Mets at one point. In addition to Severino, the Mets have former Yankees Harrison Bader and Adam Ottavino playing prominent roles. Also, Mets rookie manager Carlos Mendoza was Boone's bench coach from 2020-23. Mendoza started his coaching career with the Yankees in 2009.
"They have got a good team," Mendoza told the New York Post. "We have got a good team and we are playing well too."
With the Subway Series set to begin Tuesday, let's compare the Yankees and Mets position by position using their rosters as they sit right now, heading into the series. Here is the tale of the tape for New York baseball.
Catcher: Francisco Alvarez, Mets
Francisco Alvarez NYM • C • #4 BA0.286R11HR3RBI16SB1 View Profile
The Yankees have gotten nice work from their Jose Trevino/Austin Wells catching platoon, mostly because they rate as two of the best pitch-framers in the game. Alvarez is one of the best hitting catchers in baseball though, with rare power for the position. He's beginning to hit his stride at the plate after missing close to two months with a thumb injury. Alvarez also showed he's no slouch defensively as a rookie last year. It's funny, both Alvarez and Wells came up through the minors as bat-first catchers with questions about their glove, yet both have proven themselves to be pretty good defenders at the MLB level.
First base: Pete Alonso, Mets
Pete Alonso NYM • 1B • #20 BA0.241R42HR16RBI42SB1 View Profile
Even before his broken arm, Anthony Rizzo was neither hitting nor defending much. Rookie Ben Rice has gone 5 for 17 (.294) and put together tough at-bats since being called up last week, but yeah, easy call here. Alonso's the best first baseman in New York and has been since his first day in the big leagues.
Second base: Gleyber Torres, Yankees
Gleyber Torres NYY • 2B • #25 BA0.218R36HR7RBI29SB4 View Profile
Yeesh. Torres is the lesser of two evils here. He's having a miserable contract year (.634 OPS) yet has somehow been better than Jeff McNeil (.572 OPS), who has begun to lose playing time to veteran Jose Iglesias. Iglesias mostly plays against lefties, so with the Yankees starting two righties this series, it's likely McNeil will be in the lineup for the Subway Series. The less said about second base, the better. An absolutely wasteland of a position in New York.
Shortstop: Francisco Lindor, Mets
Francisco Lindor NYM • SS • #12 BA0.241R49HR13RBI39SB13 View Profile
Anthony Volpe has made big strides in his sophomore year by reducing his strikeouts and using the entire field, plus he's a gifted defender who won a Gold Glove as a rookie last year. Volpe's great. He's not Lindor though, even if their offensive numbers are nearly identical: .743 OPS vs. .741 OPS. Lindor has been on a rampage since moving to the leadoff spot last month (.891 OPS in 32 games) and it's not like he's lacking in the field. And the track record is much, much longer. Over the next 5-7 years, I might take Volpe. For the next two games, give me Lindor.
Third base: Mark Vientos, Mets
Mark Vientos NYM • 3B • #27 BA0.289R19HR7RBI18SB0 View Profile
Brett Baty started the season at third base for the Mets, played his way into a demotion back to Triple-A, and Vientos has stepped in and been very productive at the hot corner. The change at third base coincides with the Mets turning their season around. The Yankees have had a revolving door at third base all year -- Oswaldo Cabrera leads the team in starts at third base and DJ LeMahieu is the guy right now -- but whoever they've put there hasn't contributed much. Yankees third basemen are among the least productive positions in baseball this season (.605 OPS and 0.4 WAR).
Left field: Brandon Nimmo, Mets
Brandon Nimmo NYM • LF • #9 BA0.244R46HR11RBI43SB5 View Profile
Nimmo is consistency personified. He runs above-average on-base percentages every year like clockwork and look at his OPS+ the last four seasons: 131 in 2021, 130 in 2022, 129 in 2023, 130 in 2024. The shift to left field has helped his defense too. He'd been a bit below average in center the last few years. Now he's average or even a tick above in left. Alex Verdugo is one of the best left fielder defenders in the game and a competent league average-ish hitter, but he's not Nimmo.
Center field: Aaron Judge, Yankees
Right field: Juan Soto, Yankees
Aaron Judge NYY • CF • #99 BA0.300R59HR28RBI70SB5 View Profile
I don't think we need to spend too much time on these positions. Soto and Judge rank 1-2 in on-base percentage among all hitters and they're both top five in OPS and WAR. They are two of the very best players in the world. Former Yankee Harrison Bader and former Yankees draft pick D.J. Stewart are fine players who have no business starting over Judge and Soto on a combined Mets-Yankees roster. Stewart, by the way, figures to start in place of Starling Marte, who's headed to the injured list with a knee issue.
DH: J.D. Martinez, Mets
J.D. Martinez NYM • DH • #28 BA0.290R21HR9RBI32SB0 View Profile
The Yankees lost Giancarlo Stanton to a hamstring strain last week and, if he were healthy, this position would have been a little closer. Stanton's had a nice bounceback season after two disappointing years from 2022-23. The Yankees figure to use their DH spot as a revolving door for now, with J.D. Davis a certainty to start against the two Mets lefties this week. Trent Grisham could also see time in center with Judge and Soto splitting time in right and at DH. Martinez signed late and needed a few weeks to get up to speed at the plate. He's been as productive and as clutch as ever the last six weeks or so.
Now that we've picked our nine position players, let's build a lineup, shall we?
- SS Francisco Lindor, switch-hitter
- RF Juan Soto, LHB
- CF Aaron Judge, RHB
- DH J.D. Martinez, RHB
- 1B Pete Alonso, RHB
- LF Brandon Nimmo, LHB
- C Francisco Alvarez, RHB
- 3B Mark Vientos, RHB
- 2B Gleyber Torres, RHB
A bit righty heavy, especially in the 3-4-5 slots, but Judge, Martinez, and Alonso are not your typical righty bats. If it's that big of a concern, you could always flip Judge and Soto in the 2-3 spots to space the lefties out a bit more. Run that lineup and each player's slash line through the Baseball Musings Lineup Analysis tool, and you get a lineup that would average 5.79 runs per game. The Baltimore Orioles are averaging 5.19 runs per game, most in baseball. The league average is 4.35 runs per game this year.
Starters: Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil, Yankees
Gerrit Cole NYY • SP • #45 ERA4.50WHIP1IP4BB1K5 View Profile Luis Gil NYY • SP • #81 ERA2.77WHIP1.08IP81.1BB41K97 View Profile
Even after getting rocked for seven runs in 1 1/3 innings last time out, Gil is still top 10 in the AL in ERA and WAR. He stepped into the rotation when Cole went down with nerve inflammation in his elbow in spring training and has pitched as well as Cole did last year, when he won the AL Cy Young unanimously. Tuesday will be Cole's second start off the injured list and he'll likely be limited to 75 pitches or so. Still, give me Cole on a pitch limit and Gil over David Peterson and Sean Manaea, no offense to them. The Yankees have had one of the best rotations in baseball this season. Just about any pairing of two Yankees starters would be the pick here.
Closer: Clay Holmes, Yankees
Clay Holmes NYY • RP • #35 ERA2.45WHIP1.30IP33BB8K32 View Profile
Edwin Díazgot slapped with a 10-game suspension after getting busted with sticky stuff Sunday night. Unless he appeals, he'll miss the Subway Series. Even before that though, Díaz was having a so-so season, though he had been better of late. Mendoza will lean on some combination of Jake Diekman, Reed Garrett, Dedniel Núñez, and Adam Ottavino to close games while Díaz is out. Holmes has a few hiccups lately, but he's been very good overall this season, and is the game's premier ground-ball specialist. The rest of the Yankees bullpen outside Luke Weaver has been shaky the last few weeks. The Mets have a more reliable setup crew at the moment.
The Yankees are trying to hold off the O's in the AL East and the Mets are trying to get into wild-card position. These are important games for both teams. Add in the crosstown rivalry and it will be an electric atmosphere at Citi Field these next two night. It always is when the Mets and Yankees meet. Want a prediction? I'll be boring and say the Mets and Yankees split the two games. The Yankees take the opener behind Cole, then the Mets walk-off against Holmes on Wednesday.