Welcome to article 101. As we cross the century mark, it is time to launch another new series here at the Breakdown. The Subway Beat will be out weekly to provide coverage of the Mets and Yankees. In my opinion New York, along with Boston, Chicago and St. Louis, is the last great baseball town in America. The city that never sleeps can’t get enough of the Bombers and the Metropolitans, win or lose. They dominate the conversation on TV and radio all summer long and they will drive lots of discussion here as well. Now please remember folks, if you see something say something, mind the gap when exiting the train, and for the love of God don’t block the door. I promise to speak more clearly than the muffled conductors do so you don’t miss your stop. With all that said, all aboard, first stop the Bronx!
Yankees
“Now arriving at 161st Street/River Ave Yankee Stadium,” where the good times are certainly rolling right now. Despite the season’s first loss on Tuesday night in Arizona, the Bombers have their fans rightfully excited over their early handy work. Of course, any discussion of the season so far must begin with the offseason’s big addition, Juan Soto. To say number 22 has hit the ground running would be an understatement, as he helped carry the Yanks to a memorable season opening sweep in Houston. Big hits, acrobatic catches, and game saving throws from the outfield kick started his Yankee highlight reel, one that is just getting started.
While Soto’s impact has certainly felt magnified given his stature in the sport, he isn’t alone in “the good first impression department.” New acquisition Alex Verdugo hasn’t quite gotten things going with the bat so far, but his glove has certainly impressed helping to save Sunday’s game in Space City. While Verdugo and Soto have done their damage in the field and at the dish, Marcus Stroman got off to a good start on the mound in his Yankee debut. Number 0 put together a strong outing Saturday night striking out four over six innings while not yielding an earned run (three runs were on his ledger but not charged due to an error). The Medford New York native got the win and brought plenty of passion and energy to the game, much in the way Verdugo and Soto have so far. This Yankee franchise as a whole has a bad habit of getting too stiff at times and it seems these new additions are trying to break them out of that mindset early on.
Now it’s awfully early for awards, but let’s give out a freshly minted crown this week. The award for “most improved Yankee” goes to shortstop Anthony Volpe. Last year the local boy made good by joining the big club but had a hard time getting going with the bat for the majority of the year. While his power numbers were impressive, it feels like he would better serve the Yankees by getting on base and hitting for more of an average, especially given their lack of a true leadoff man. Number eleven showed an improved sense of the strike zone and hit for plenty of contact in the spring and has followed that up with a blistering start to the regular season at the plate. His strong beginning to 2024 was punctuated by going 4 for 4 with two runs scored and an RBI Monday in Arizona. Volpe continuing to evolve offensively will go a long way towards the Yankees achieving their goals this year, so this is a story worth keeping tabs on. Also, we have to shoutout the terrific start by Oswaldo Cabrera who had a massive series at the dish in Houston. Cabrera is looking to carve out a role on this team with DJ Lemahieu hurt, and more games like we’ve seen so far will do th trick.
While it is fun talk about all the good things so far this season, I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight some early question marks for the Yankees. While the starting rotation has performed admirably in five of six starts thus far, length hasn’t exactly been their strong suit. Stroman’s six innings of work Saturday night Houston is the most a Yankee start has put together through six games. With Gerrit Cole out this team can’t have this pitching staff not going deep into games and draining their talented bullpen. While some of this is likely due to the Yankees looking to manage pitch count and workload for their starters early on, all five will need to add to their load as the season progresses.
Speaking of the bullpen, let’s touch on closer Clay Holmes. While number 35’s colleagues have done some excellent work so far, Holmes has certainly made things rather interesting in route to picking up three saves in three chances this past weekend. Holmes sandwiched an uneventful Saturday night outing between a pair of heart stopping ninth innings where Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo had to bail him out with some stellar defensive plays. Holmes is prone to stretches where he allows too many base runners and typically works through them, and the Yankees are hoping he does that again soon…after all my heart is about to endure stressful Rangers playoff hockey, give me a break Clay.
As nice as a 5-1 record is, it doesn’t define or guarantee a season. The Yankees will certainly have their ups and downs like all other major league clubs do, but this start was key to establishing momentum and eliminating some of the bad vibes from last year. The last time the Yankees started like this, the year was 1992, a season in which they proceeded to miss the playoffs. While anything can happen, I feel pretty comfortable saying we won’t see a repeat of that this season…after all Juan Soto is a heck of a lot better than that season’s opening day right fielder Jesse Barfield (check out the lineup below). Now let’s hop back on the train and get into our fine cities other squad.
| Yankees Opening Day Lineup – April 7th, 1992 – 4-3 Win over the Red Sox at the Stadium |
| 1. Randy Velarde SS |
| 2. Don Mattingly 1B |
| 3. Roberto Kelly CF |
| 4. Mel Hall LF |
| 5. Danny Tartabull DH |
| 6. Matt Nokes C |
| 7. Jesse Barfield RF |
| 8. Charlie Hayes 3B |
| 9. Pat Kelly 2B |
| SP: Scott Sanderson (Winner) – Closer: Steve Farr (Save) – Manager: Buck Showalter |
Mets
“Now arriving at Mets Willets Point,” where let’s just say things haven’t exactly gotten off to a good start. That frankly is a kind description of the start to the 2024 season in Queens. The Mets sit at 0-4 and have looked rather lifeless in all phases of the game. Their fans frustration was pacified Tuesday night thanks to a rainout, though the delay was mismanaged…much to the chagrin of the great Gary Cohen.
It’s hard to pinpoint one thing in particular right now as the leading cause of the mess as in each of the four games there have been different parties responsible for the defeats. The one constant so far has been an extremely ineffective offense, an offense that is expected to do much of the heavy lifting if this group is going to compete at all this year.
Aside from a six-run outburst on Saturday, the offense has scored one run twice and been shutout once and was even one hit in the season opener. Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil, and Brandon Nimmo are a combined 3-44 so far and need to snap out of it right away to help spark this offense to life. While these aren’t trends that will continue all year (one would think) as these players are too good, there needs to be a real sense of urgency here as this bad start cannot snowball further.
Aside from Sean Manaea’s strong start Monday night, the pitching staff has been mediocre at best to begin the year. Jose Quintana made a very “Quintana like” start to the season in the opener and was followed up by a pair of poor outings from Luis Severino and the now injured Tylor Megill. Severino’s start was particularly concerning as he was expected to make a difference on the mound this season, after coming across town from the Yankees. With Megill going down and Kodai Senga already on the shelf to begin the season, the Mets are rumored to be looking for help outside the organization for their rotation…not exactly a ringing endorsement for the organizational depth.
If we’re being honest the Mets rotation was not expected to be overpowering this season and instead the bullpen was planned to reinforce them effectively with their influx of new arms. But so far, aside from the triumphant return of Edwin Diaz, that hasn’t been the case. Righty Michael Tonkin had a nightmarish outing in the 10th inning against the Tigers, yielding five runs that made the difference in the game. Yohan Ramirez, whilst appealing his suspension, struggled on Sunday against Milwaukee and Jorge Lopez was charged with a tack on run in the opener against Brewers. While its early for them all, this group isn’t comprised of arms that have a great track record of success and there should be at least some concern that the majority will turn out to not be very effective.
Now much like the Yankees, four games do not have to define this season for the Mets. This team has plenty of experienced players that have had success before and a major league baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. This group has time to turn things around but will have a tall task ahead of them if they do not get it going soon. Their April schedule isn’t easy at all as they will soon face the improved Pirates and Reds as well as make trips to the Dodgers, Braves and Giants. Those are not teams that they match up well with, nor are they easy to beat in their home ballparks. This season has the potential to go off the rails fast if the Mets are not careful.
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