It's War At Citi Field!

There is a certain kind of animosity among interleague rivals in New York City. It feels electric. Is it Grimace? Is is the Mets? Is it the rivalry? Or just a contagious competition among cross city teams? Whatever it is, it feels like war and the battle is just beginning.

It didn’t take long for Yankees ace Gerrit Cole to get roughed up by Mets offense. After leaving the bases loaded in the first inning, the Yankees simply could not produce runs while the Mets started clubbing early, taking a 3-0 inning lead on the Yankees in game 1 of the series. This on the heels of a potential trade with Vladimir Guerrero which would give the Yankees some additional offense to outlive teams like the Mets.

“I’m a worker, professional, and I go out on the field and play,” Guerrero said. “… Sometimes you say things — it’s not that I am trying to take back what I said about the Yankees, what do I say, I don’t hold back what I said about the Yankees — but this is a business. I sat down and spoke with my dad and my family, and this is a business … Like I tell you, I’m a player and if a team picks me or if they do something, it’s because they need it, obviously, and I’ll be happy to help any team. But right now, I’m just focused on helping my team try to get out of this bad streak,” reported CBS Sports. 

The Yankees have been on a mid-season skid while the Mets are on a mid-season rise. It feels like it is just a temporary situation, but I often wonder if it just comes down to pitching consistency rather than more bats in the lineup.

According to Forbes, “In addition to a 4-6 record in their past 10 games, the Yankees have lost three in a row. Compounding the felony, their pitchers have allowed a combined 25 runs in their past two games.Yankees pitchers get plenty of support from Aaron Judge, who leads both leagues in home runs with 27, and newcomer Juan Soto, a one-time batting champion whose left-handed bat seems a perfect match for the short right-field dimensions of Yankee Stadium. But it hasn’t been clear sailing for the pitching staff.”

If your ace can’t hold down the Mets, and your bats remain quiet, what are you supposed to do? It’s war at Citi Field and if the Yankees don’t turn this stuff around, I wonder how far they can even go this season. Even with a bat like Guerrero, how far can they go if their pitching staff can’t hold down a mediocre team like the Mets fueled by a 1970s fast food restaurant character? 

–Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof