The New York Mets will be hitting the road this week after taking Monday off, while the Yankees will be here in New York to host 7 games in 7 days at the Big House.
Last week the Mets started the week by splitting a doubleheader with the Braves before a rainout led to another doubleheader against the Tigers on Wednesday. After splitting the two games with the Braves, the Mets lost both games of the doubleheader in Detroit en route to being swept in the series with the Tigers.
READ MORE: How the Mets were SWEPT Away
How the Mets’ Week Ahead Shapes Up
Monday 5/8 – Off
Tuesday 5/9 – Thursday 5/11 @ Cincinnati
Friday 5/12 – Sunday 5/14 @ Washington (Also playing on Monday to start next week as this is a 4-game series)
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The big problem for the Mets last week was a struggling offense, but the bats finally woke up a little bit on Sunday as the Mets scored 3 runs in the first inning for the first time this 2023 season. The Mets only earned a 1 – 0 victory in the first game of the series with the Rockies and lost Game 2, 5 – 2, on Saturday against Colorado. That means the Mets scored a total of 9 runs over a 5-game span before Sunday’s game at Citi Field to wrap up the series with the Rockies.
Despite the early 3 – 1 lead on Sunday in the first inning, Colorado responded with 2 more runs in the third inning to erase the early Mets lead, and then things just got ugly from there. The Rockies pounded out 13 runs and took two of three games from the Mets this weekend. The Mets were strongly favored in all three games despite how poorly they are playing at the moment.
Three issues plaguing Mets’ anemic offense https://t.co/o34qoHpUev pic.twitter.com/Jp7UmmoAFO
— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) May 7, 2023
The week has the potential to start off well with Max Scherzer taking the mound on Tuesday against the Reds with Justin Verlander to follow on Wednesday. Many a Mets fan hoped that would have been the conversation last week when they both flopped in Detroit suffering losses, although Verlander’s effort wasn’t as bad only allowing 2 runs in a 2 – 0 loss against his former squad in Detroit.
Scherzer has yet to be his former self this season, as his numbers are ballooning to numbers that we have not seen at any point of his career. one that spans back to the 2008 campaign in Detroit. His inflated 5.56 ERA with 6 home runs allowed in 5 starts sure isn’t building anyone’s confidence right now, either his own or for Mets fans!
With only a 20 – 10 K to BB ratio, Scherzer is actually becoming a liability for the Mets, and who the hell would have ever thought they would hear those words? Scherzer is in line to make a pair of starts this week, and all eyes will be watching around the league to see if he can get his shit in order anytime soon.
Catching a pair of teams that are under .500 this week you would think could start the upward tick the Mets need, but if it was that easy we wouldn’t be here questioning everything happening at the moment.
If we are being honest here, the Mets’ pitching staff isn’t exactly doing its part to turn things around. Let’s not even start with the 29 home runs allowed because that is not on the defense that is actually playing well. The Mets are ranked 5th in fielding percentage and they have only committed 12 errors this year, so if the pitching staff can figure out how to keep balls in the park, things could easily start to turn in the right direction.
How the Yankees Week Ahead Shapes Up
Monday 5/8 – Wednesday 5/10 vs Oakland
Thursday 5/11 – Sunday 5/14 vs Tampa Bay
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The Yankees won the series with Cleveland this past week taking two of three games before going on to play the Rays in Tampa. With Gerrit Cole staked to a 6 – 0 lead, the Yankees fell apart and eventually lost 8 – 7 in extra innings while losing 2 games from 3-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend
Yankees ace Gerrit Cole made two starts this past week but neither outing helped him pick up a win. A pair of no-decisions left Cole at 5 – 0 for the season, although nothing in the L column is certainly a positive. Cole’s only start this coming week will be on Friday against the Rays which will make it a second straight outing against the AL East Division leaders.
The Yankees blew a golden opportunity on Sunday to get Cole his 6th win of the season, although Cole can also blame himself for part of that no-decision. Staked to a 6 – 0 lead in the 5th inning, Cole gave up 5 earned runs before the Rays eventually grabbed a 7 – 6 by the end of the 6th inning.
Nestor Cortez is listed as the Monday starter to set the pace for the week, but the only pace he is setting right now doesn’t exactly instill confidence. Cortez got jacked up 3 times in his last start against Texas allowing 7 earned runs that stemmed from a season-high 4 walks. There is no more room for antics and flamboyance, so I expect none of that to come against Oakland.
This was the only Tweet that the Yankees posted about the game that Cortez started:
FINAL: Rangers 15, Yankees 2.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 30, 2023
The Yankees need to keep a struggling A’s team down to start the week, and Aaron Judge is due back on Tuesday to help matters even more. Judge hit the 10-day IL and the Yankees offense certainly wasn’t the better for it, but his presence should provide some kind of spark. I still don’t get why anyone throws him strikes after such a convincing season he had in 2022.
When you let the most dangerous player on the other team beat you, knowing that he has the ability to completely change a game with one swing of a bat, I just call that bad managing!
Clarke Schmidt and Jhony Brito are slated as the probable pitchers for Games 2 and 3 vs Oakland, and neither of them made it out of the 5th inning in their last starts. Schmidt got totally outpitched by Shane Bieber against Cleveland on May 3, as the Guardian pitcher hurled 8 innings of work allowing just two earned runs, albeit they were both long balls.
Brito started the first game of the Tampa series this past weekend and he didn’t even get into the 5th inning. After a pair of home runs allowed, he left the game down 4 – 0 but the Yankees offense bailed him with 4 runs in the 6th to leave him with a ND.
It is starting to become difficult to trust any Yankee in the rotation outside of Gerrit Cole, and I will once again add that Aaron Boons is brain-dead! Why? Aaron Hicks is still wearing the Yankees’ uniform! That dude is a AA player at best, and yet there he is still in the lineup. It will be interesting to see what move Boone makes to make room for Judge, because I don’t see how the hell Aaron Hicks deserves to be in the dugout, much less on the field.
Mets and Yankees Expectations This Week
I imagine the Mets have the potential to be favored every day this week having the Reds and Nationals to deal with but so what! I expect the Mets to lose two of three in Cincinnati before going on to split the Washington series 2 – 2 which ends on Monday to start next week.
I give the Yankees a good chance to take two of three games from Oakland, but this time around I think the Rays are going to smack around the Bombers. Even with Cole in the Friday start against Tampa, I expect the Rays to win 3 of 4 and take that series.
