New York Yankees vs. New York Mets: Series Preview

Thursday’s rainout means that the Yankees’ brutal 11-8 loss to the Angels will still be the most recent action in our memory when they take the field on Friday night. When they do though, it’s going to be another crucial series — this one a Subway Series showdown against the first-place Mets.

The Mets hold a slight lead coming into this weekend’s series, despite the Pirates being the only team who averages fewer runs per game than them. They’ve done this thanks to the strength of their pitching, led by the nonpareil Jacob deGrom.

This weekend, the Yankees will miss deGrom, who pitched their Thursday night game against the Braves. However, the other two strongest members of the Mets’ rotation will go, facing off against the two current strongest members of the Yankees.

With things set to kick off this weekend, let’s take a look at the pitching matchups we’ll see over the next three days.

Friday: Jordan Montgomery vs. Taijuan Walker (7:05 pm ET)

Montgomery is coming off a solid-but-unspectacular outing against the Red Sox. Allowing three runs in six innings isn’t ideal, but as usual, the offense was more the problem for the Yankees. On the whole, his June was fairly decent, having put up a 3.77 ERA in 28.2 innings, while holding hitters to a .663 OPS.

The last time Walker faced the Yankees was last year when he was on the Blue Jays late last season. The Yankees got him for seven runs (only one was actually earned, though), and knocked him out after just 1.2 innings. However in the meantime, he’s put together a very nice campaign for the Mets so far, having put up a 2.38 ERA and a 2.93 FIP.

Saturday: Gerrit Cole vs. Marcus Stroman (1:05 pm ET)

June was not a great month for Cole. His ERA was 4.65 in the five starts he had in the month, and it raised his overall season total by nearly a full run. Plus, there was the whole “sticky stuff” situation that led to him becoming one of the central figures in the controversy. This will be his first start against the Mets as a Yankee, as he didn’t come up in the rotation during the 2020 Subway Series.

The Yankees have plenty of experience against Stroman after having been in the same division with him from 2014 to ‘19. They put up middling results against him, with a 4.23 ERA in 17 games. Judging by comments he’s made in recent years, Stroman will likely be quite fired up for Saturday’s game.

Sunday: TBD vs. TBD (7:08 pm ET)

For the first time in MLB history, identical twins will face off on either sides of a pitching matchup.

Okay, it’s actually just that neither the Yankees or Mets have formally announced their plan for Sunday yet.

For the Yankees, Thursday’s postponement allowed them to push both Montgomery and Cole back a day. Going off the order of the rotation prior to the rainout, it would be Michael King getting the start. However, the rainout could allow them to skip him and go straight to Jameson Taillon, who would be on regular rest.

Going off the Mets’ order coming into this series, the ball seems likely to go to Tylor Megill, who’s made two starts in his major league career so far (both against the Braves). In the most recent outing on June 28th in Atlanta, Megill gave up three runs in five innings but did strike out eight batters. Like the Yankees though, it remains to be seen.