The NY Mets and NY Yankees both had rough weeks to end the month of April, but we have arrived at a new month as the calendar turns to May and things can only get better.
Well, that’s not necessarily true because it is not easy to get in a groove when things are not going well, but let’s see how this week will shape up for both organizations.
How the Mets’ Week Shapes Up
The Mets were scheduled to be off on Monday again this week as they were last week, but a Saturday and Sunday rainout against the Braves put a wrinkle in all of that. As a result, the Mets will now be playing a doubleheader on Monday at Citi Field to start the week before heading to Detroit for a 3-game series that starts on Tuesday.
May 1 Doubleheader vs Atlanta
May 2 – 4 @ Detroit
May 5 – 7 vs Colorado
The Mets only played a total of 4 games last week after their Saturday and Sunday affairs with the Braves got rained out, so that will make this upcoming week busy for the Metropolitans.
After the Detroit series, the Mets will pick up their gear and head back to New York for a 3-game set against the Rockies to wrap up the first week of May.
The Mets only won a single game this past week out of the four games played and in the three losses they combined to only score a total of 1 run. The lone win this week came on Thursday after losing the first two games of the series with the Nationals, although the Mets got shut down on Friday in the first game against Atlanta, 4 – 0.
At 15 – 12, the Mets have fallen 3-games in back of Atlanta in the NL East standings, but help is on the way.
While the Mets will likely have Megill and Butto take the mound for the doubleheader on Monday, Max Scherzer is scheduled to return from suspension on Tuesday, and Justin Verlander is expected to get the Wednesday start against Detroit. That is only fitting since Verlander and Scherzer were both teammates with the Tigers moons ago. (That seems like an eternity has passed since)
LHP Brooks Raley has been placed on the 15-day IL with left elbow inflammation, retroactive to 4/28 and RHP John Curtiss has been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. RHP Adam Ottavino has been reinstated from the paternity list and LHP David Peterson has been optioned to Syracuse.
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 29, 2023
The rankings speak to the struggles for the Mets coming into the new week, so let’s go over some of those stats.
Scoring 4.71 runs per game, the Mets rank 13th in the league in scoring, but the .240 batting average as a team leaves them ranked back at 20th. Brett Bady hit the only home run for the Mets last week, and Pete Alonso is still stuck on 10 dingers as he was entering last week.
On the defensive side of the field, the Mets’ pitching staff is allowing 1.47 HR per game, and that ranks them back in the 25th spot of all of MLB. Opponents are carrying a.736 OPS which sets the Mets at 19th in the rankings as the rotation tries to find any confidence moving forward.
How the Yankees’ Week Shapes Up
The Yankees started the week losing 2 of 3 games to the Twins, and as a result, the Twins took the season series from the Yanks, 4 – 2. That hasn’t happened since 2001, and that is simply not a good sign moving forward.
Going into Sunday’s game against Texas, the Rangers earned wins in the first two games of the 4-game set while the Yanks rebounded on Saturday with a win heading into the final game of the series.
The Yankees will have a day off on Thursday after starting the week with 3 games against Cleveland at home and then… Friday, Saturday, and Sunday—time for the big test against the Rays.
May 1 – 3 vs Cleveland
May 5 – 7 @ Tamps Bay
All of us Yankee fans out here are dreading that series because the Rays have jumped out to an incredible start to the 2023 season.
At 15 – 13, the Yankees have been a team that has killed their totals to this point having hit 19 out of 28 Unders to begin the campaign.
Aaron Judge now has his injury to deal with, as he has been absent the last 3 games with a nagging hip injury. With Stanton and Donaldson still dealing with their injuries that are keeping them off the field, any long stint of time that the Yankee captain misses will be costly.
There is simply not enough firepower in this lineup to compete at a high level, and some of the lineups that Aaron Boone has put together this past week were filled with pure junk.
Take a look at Sunday’s lineup that faced Martin Perez in Texas, and tell me that you would have the confidence to expect a Yankee win.
Nestor on the bump 🙌#RepBX pic.twitter.com/okUIQGv3v9
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 30, 2023
The Yankees were actually favored at -125 on Sunday which is even more hysterical!
Aaron Hicks needs to take off his jersey and cleats and get the hell out of New York immediately. That clown got benched last season and how the hell you put him on the field is beyond me at this point. When you are batting .125 after the shit he gave the Yankees a season ago, it is clearly obvious that he has not worked on anything to become a better baseball player. GET HIM OFF THE DAMN FIELD!
Now that Anthony Rizzo’s batting average has fallen under .300, there is not one other player on the Yankee roster that is batting .270.
Gerrit Cole is the only pitcher that the Yankees can rely on to put together a decent performance, because beyond that it isn’t even a coin-flip as to what you get from there. Nestor Cortez wants to be an attraction who garners attention for his antics on the mound, and let’s put it out there now. WHO THE HELL CARES IF YOU CAN BALANCE AND MAKE 4 MOVES ON THE MOUND!?
Hell, if I am being 100% honest, German has given up 7 home runs as has Clarke Schmidt, so beyond Cole there might not be any confidence left to find. I want to credit German for at least going deep into his recent starts, but at 2 – 2 with that nasty 5.54 ERA, what are we actually getting out of him?
Expect the Yankees to struggle again this week, but the Mets will, at least, get two of their big starters back which should ease some of the pain from last week.
