I didn’t expect to be writing about the Yankees and Mets on this Labor Day Monday but here we are. The Bombers and the Metropolitans played spoiler this weekend for a pair of AL West opponents, seemingly out of nowhere, so I wanted to take a moment to talk about both teams’ performances.

Mets

The Mets were home this weekend against the red-hot Mariners and picked up a series win. To me the real story of this series from a Met perspective is the outstanding of performance of Kodai Senga in Friday night’s 2-1 win. Senga arrived with much fanfare this offseason from Japan, and early on there was some doubt about how he would handle pitching in the US.

But as the season has gone on, he has found his way, and of late he looks like he could be a cornerstone in the Met rotation going forward. In his last five starts, Senga is 3-1 with a no decision, and hasn’t allowed more than three runs in these outings. Friday was the peak of this run, as number 34 struck out 12 batters over seven innings. This strong finish should calm any fears Met fans have about the front end of the rotation next season, Senga looks capable of being a one or a two, which will make the offseason shopping for rotation depth a little easier.

Pete Alonso capped off the weekend with two homers in the rubber victory on Sunday, giving him 41 for the year. Perhaps the more important news related to the Met first baseman was the team rallying to his defense this week, as the front office dispelled rumors of trading the slugger. Clearly there has been a campaign against Alonso from somewhere inside the organization, something that is hard to fathom. While its clear the Mets have had clubhouse issues, trading Alonso doesn’t seem like the logical way to solve the problem. He has acted like a leader for most of his Met tenure, and on the field he has been irreplaceable, 40 homers and 120 RBI’s don’t grow on trees.

Yankees

Hell finally froze over. The Yankees, in Brian Cashman’s infinite wisdom, called up some of their prospects. And if you can believe it, they actually helped the team win games, funny how that works. My sarcasm aside, this was the most fun weekend the Yankees have given the fan base, perhaps at any point this season.

While Anthony Volpe has been a bright spot this season, the fan base was clamoring to see Oswald Peraza, Everson Pereira, and Austin Wells at some point this season. They finally got their wish, plus a bonus, Jasson “the Martian” Dominguez was joining the call ups. As the new “baby bombers” posed for a photo, rocking numbers higher than most NFL offensive lines (this is what happens when you retire too many numbers), dreams of this group contributing danced in Yankee fans heads. To say they exceeded expectations would be an understatement, even if it was just one weekend.

The Martian got the party started in the Space City as he homered in his first at bat in the show, off of future hall of famer Justin Verlander.

A magical moment Jasson and his family won’t forget, as they were in attendance for this first homer and his encore Sunday night on national TV.

Dominguez conjured up memories of Aaron Judge’s debut in 2016, bursting onto the scene with impressive homers. While he needs to be given the time and room to grow, this was the kind of start the Yankees were hoping to see from the young outfielder.

Not to be outdone, fellow outfielder Everson Pereria picked up the game winning RBI in Saturday’s victory, with a clutch RBI single. Oswald Peraza picked up five hits in nine at-bats between Saturday and Sunday, with a pair RBI’s as well and Austin Wells picked up two hits and two RBI’s in the series, while doing some solid work behind the plate. An all-around solid job by the rookies, who teamed up with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and DJ Lemahieu for an offensive onslaught that swept aside the rival Astros. Judge even complimented the new rookies as better than the crop of prospects he came up with, particularly in the “attitude” and “approach” to playing department.

While it was a joy to watch these players all perform well, I came away from these games frustrated this didn’t happen earlier. This was a sentiment echoed amongst Yankee fans, as they took stock of the situation on social media. The Yankees wasted playing time that could have gone to these prospects, on career fringe players like Billy McKinney, Jake Bauers, Willie Calhoun, and Kyle Higashioka. While it is not guaranteed to continue, the rookies’ contributions feel like they would have been much more helpful to have on the roster than the names I just rattled off. Even just the youthful energy and spirit they brought to the clubhouse would have been a lift, rather than the dull malaise this team played through for much of the year.

To conclude on both teams, I want to emphasize this point, both fan bases need to keep everything they see this month in perspective. April and September are usually the worst times to make rash judgments in this game, and right now is no exception. While I hope to see both teams playing good baseball (New York is better when they do) none of what we are about to see is a guarantee of future behavior. My advice to the fans, me included, is enjoy these new faces and improved efforts as they come. Don’t overhype it, just let this play out and get ready for next season, one that will hopefully be better for both teams.

Let me know what you thought of the new baby bombers and the campaign against Alonso on twitter @YNWA9623 and subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner of your screen and entering your email address. This is the most writing I have done about sports since college, while it’s been a grind, I have had a blast putting this round of articles together and I hope the readers are enjoying it as much as I am. Stay tuned everyone, this is just the beginning.