Matt Harvey – Keefe To The City

Sep 21, 2015

2015 Subway Series Diary: Citi Field

The most important Subway Series will always be the 2000 World Series, but after that, the three-game series this past weekend At Citi Field might be next on the list.

The most important Subway Series will always be the 2000 World Series, but after that, the three-game series this past weekend At Citi Field might be next on the list. This late in the season with the Yankees trying to pass the Blue Jays and the Mets trying to hold off the Nationals, there hasn’t been a Subway Series holding this much significance with this much at stake in a long, long time.

I decided to go to the diary format that I have used for the Subway Series in the past to look back at this weekend. Like always, just pretend like you’re reading this in one of those black-and-white Mead composition notebooks.

FRIDAY
I would have complained about Joe Girardi’s lineup on Friday night, but how can you complain about this lineup when the team has a 10-game lead in the AL East on Sept. 18?

Brett Gardner – CF
Chase Headley – 3B
Carlos Beltran – RF
Chris Young -LF
Greg Bird – 1B
John Ryan Murphy – C
Didi Gregroius – SS
Brendan Ryan – 2B
Masahiro Tanaka – P

With Alex Rodriguez, Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury on the bench, that’s $59,142,857 worth of salary for 2015 on the bench for what is a crucial series in order to win the AL East. But that’s Joe Girardi for you. He doesn’t care if it’s April 18 or Sept. 18 or Game 1 of the ALDS, if there’s a left-handed pitcher on the mound, he’s going to tinker with his lineup as much as possible. It’s who he is.

It came as no surprise that this lineup scored one run in the first inning and then magically didn’t score for the rest of the game. It was painful to watch the Yankees load the bases in the ninth inning against Jeurys Familia, thanks to a walk from A-Rod and pinch-hit single from Ellsbury after the two start the game, only to lose because streaky Brett Gardner couldn’t get a hit and Chase Headley struck out, which he seems to do a lot.

The lineup was bad and the game was bad, but was the worst was after the game when Girardi said it was tough without A-Rod and McCann as if they were injured or suspended when it was Girardi’s decision to not play them. Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Girardi!

SATURDAY
The Yankees always win on my birthday, so I wasn’t surprised when they won again on my birthday.

But if you watched the game on FOX, you would never have known that the Yankees won the game and lit up Noah Syndergaard. The FOX broadcast just kept saying over and over how great Syndergaard was pitching and if only he hadn’t given up a first-inning, three-run home run to Carlos Beltran and a sixth-inning, two-run home run to Brian McCann then he would have pitched a shutout. Where was this kind of analysis for Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS? If Kevin Brown hadn’t given up a first-inning, two-run home run to David Ortiz and hadn’t loaded the bases before Javier Vazquez gave up the grand slam to Johnny Damon then the Yankees would have won the game!

Of course Joe Girardi went to Dellin Betances in the eighth inning of a 5-0 game after having gone to Justin Wilson in the seventh inning with the score the same. And of course he brought in James Pazos to start the ninth to get one out and then brought in Chris Martin thinking he would end the game cleanly only to have to bring in Andrew Miller to close out a 5-0 game with two on and two out as if a three-run home run would hurt them or as if a five-run home run exists.

SUNDAY
The Blue Jays lost to the Red Sox on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, so the Yankees deficit in the AL East was down to 3 entering Sunday Night Baseball.

When CC Sabathia gave up back-to-back doubles to start the game, I was thankful for football season starting, so I could always resort to Sunday Night Football if the game got out of hand. Fortunately, it didn’t.

Future (most likely) Yankee Matt Harvey comes to pitch when he goes against the Yankees. After shutting them down in April when he allowed two earned runs over 8 2/3 innings at Yankee Stadium. You know he feels like he is auditioning each time he pitches against the Yankees and with the Mets looking to wrap up the NL East and the Yankees trying to stay in the AL East race, you knew he would come to pitch on national TV in primetime.

When the Yankees went down in order in the first, I thought he might pitch a perfect game. After Chase Headley walked in the second inning, I thought he would pitch a no-hitter. When Brett Gardner singled with two outs in the third, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. However, I figured the Yankees would go the entire game without scoring and blow the opportunity the Blue Jays gave them with back-to-back losses. But then Matt Harvey’s innings limit took over. Sandy Alderson told Buster Olney on ESPN during the fourth inning that the fifth inning would be Harvey’s last and that’s when I knew the Yankees could win the game.

I don’t really understand the Matt Harvey/Scott Boras/Sandy Alderson innings situation. Harvey isn’t a free agent until after the 2018 season, so it’s not like he’s on the brink of a nine-figure contract. He needs to stay healthy for the rest of this season and next season and the season after that and the season after that. I understand that this is his first year following surgery, but there’s no proof that him pitching a certain amount of innings this season or next season or any season is going to be prevent him from re-injuring his elbow the same way there was no way to know he would injure it the first time. But what I don’t get is how the player and his agent aren’t on the same page as the team and clearly haven’t been all season. Did Matt Harvey tell Scott Boras to enforce this limit? Did Scott Boras advise Matt Harvey not to go past the limit? Did Scott Boras change a limit that was already agreed upon with the Mets? Is Matt Harvey really going to shut himself down the way Stephen Strasburg did in 2012, which might have cost the Nationals a championship?

I could care less if Harvey pitches again this season or in the postseason. The only time I will care how often or how much Harvey pitches is if he one day plays for the Yankees. All I care about is the Yankees winning, and for now, Harvey helped them do that on Sunday night by coming out of that game.

ESPN continued to talk about Harvey as if he’s Clayton Kershaw while the Yankees continued to pour it on against the Mets’ bullpen, which will be their downfall in the postseason. Four runs in the sixth, one run in the seventh and five more runs in the eighth and in a game they could barely get a hit in for five innings, the Yankees won 11-2 and won the 2015 Subway Series 4-2.

When I woke up on Monday morning, I expected the city to be different since the Mets had apparently taken it back despite losing both legs of the Subway Series and watching their franchise ace come out of a game after five innings on Sunday Night Baseball. I thought I would get an email or a phone call to let me know the Mets had taken back the city, but I got nothing. The Mets and their fans are still and always will be the little brother.

Blogs • Email Exchanges • Yankees

Jun 9, 2015

Bryce Harper at His Hopeful Future Home in the Bronx

The Yankees haven’t lost in June with six straight wins and now it’s time for a two-game series with the Nationals and Bryce Harper’s first games at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees haven’t lost in June with six straight wins and back-to-back sweeps over the Mariners and Angels. After struggling through the second half of May, the Yankees are still on top of the AL East heading into a two-game series with the NL East’s first-place Nationals. That means Bryce Harper is going to play at Yankee Stadium for the first time.

With the Yankees and Nationals meeting in the Bronx for their second of two short two-game series, Patrick Reddington of Federal Baseball joined me to talk about Max Scherzer’s incredible start to the season, Bryce Harper becoming the early favorite to win NL MVP and the concern about Stephen Strasburg’s future.

Keefe: The Yankees will face Max Scherzer on Tuesday night because the Yankees never seem to be able to dodge their opponent’s ace in any series. Whether it’s Scherzer or David Price or Matt Harvey or Sonny Gray or Felix Hernandez, the Yankees never seem to get any back end of a rotation.

Scherzer enters the game with a 1.85 ERA, allowing more than two earned runs in a start just twice in 11 starts this seasons, but somehow has lost four of his 11 starts because of a lack of run support.

Has Max Scherzer exceeded your expectations?

Reddington: We all knew Max Scherzer was going to be good, but he seems to have adjusted to the Nationals league fairly well thus far. What I didn’t expect, having not watched him as often as I probably should have while he was in the AL, was just how fiery a competitor he is on the mound. Not in a way that shows up opposing teams, but just really an ultra-competitive streak and an ability to maintain his stuff throughout his starts, hitting 95, 96 and 97 even late in his outings after sitting 92, 93 and 94 throughout the game.

But he’s in a three-way tie for highest fWAR so far this season (+2.8), the 1.85 ERA is fifth lowest in the majors so far, and that’s after he gave up four earned runs last time out. He has a .201 BAA. More importantly, and less noticeably, he’s also working with and helping the other pitchers on the staff, with Gio Gonzalez, among others talking about how he’s picked things up from Scherzer already this season. So, yeah, I’d say he’s exceeded expectations, which is even more impressive considering how high they were when he signed that $210 million deal.

Keefe: Part of that run support problem has been because no one other than Bryce Harper is having a good offensive season except for maybe Yunel Escobar, but even he doesn’t provide the usual power and production from their base. Aside from Harper, no one on the Nationals has more than seven home runs and Danny Espinosa is second in slugging percentage at second base.

Are you worried about the Nationals’ offense and what it will mean for their postseason chances and winning the NL East?

Reddington: Anthony Rendon just returned to the lineup. Jayson Werth started the season on the DL and was hurt not too long after returning from offseason surgery and struggled to produce while he was available. Ryan Zimmerman has transitioned to first base well, but the bat isn’t playing thus far this season. I wouldn’t say Harper is the only one who’s gotten it done, though no one is coming close to his production thus far.

Escobar is collecting a lot of hits, but doesn’t hit for power. Denard Span missed time at the start, but has been solid offensively since returning. Ian Desmond is having a hard time getting into a rhythm at the plate. I dare say not too many people would have predicted Danny Espinosa’s success thus far, to the point where there are hints he may see some time in the outfield to keep his bat in the lineup now that the infield is mostly healthy.

Though the production Werth was providing wasn’t up to his usual standards, Michael Taylor, Tyler Moore and Clint Robinson have been able to approximate what Werth was giving them as a group, though that’s still a little disappointing.

It’s another one of those “just wait until the lineup is healthy and see” seasons, where it’s hard to judge them with all the injuries and different lineups. I wouldn’t say it has me worried about their chances in the division, though there are some signs that the same problems which plagued them in October (aside from the fact that the Giants’ pitching just matched up well against the Nationals’ hitting) are still there and could be a problem.

Keefe: The last time I talked with Federal Baseball, I joked about Bryce Harper becoming a Yankee someday. Well, I actually wasn’t really joking since I do hope and plan on Harper becoming a Yankee when he is finally a free agent.

Harper has continued to rake this season and become the early-season NL MVP favorite hitting .326/.464/.706 with 19 home runs and 46 RBIs. He showed his power against the Yankees in the first inning of their four-run comeback against Nathan Eovaldi back on May 19.

So once again, how fun is it to see Harper becoming the best hitter in the game in what is looking like an MVP season?

Reddington: I wouldn’t go fitting Harper for pinstripes just yet. Though he’s a Scott Boras client and there’s the history of his clients going to free agency, there’s just as much anecdotal evidence right now that Harper likes the idea of spending an entire career with one team.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, who scouted, drafted, and oversaw his development from a very young age, has talked often about the “special relationship” the two of them have and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Mike Stanton-esque contract discussed at some point in the future provided Harper can stay healthy and continue to do what he’s been doing this season, because right now he looks every bit like the sort of once-in-a-generation-type talent he was hyped up to be when he was growing up.

Keefe: Stephen Strasburg was off to a rocky start the last time the Nationals played the Yankees three weeks ago, and that rocky start continued for his next three starts and now he’s on the 15-day disabled list with a neck issue.

Is this a you’re-not-pitching-well-so-we’re-putting-you-on-the-DL DL stint or is he really hurt? Are you worried about the future of Strasburg?

Reddington: It’s hard not to be worried about Stephen Strasburg. He’s 26, he’s already undergone Tommy John surgery, he’s struggled mightily this season and as far as the Nationals are saying, his mechanics are completely out of whack and he’s causing himself back issues with mechanics he altered because of an ankle injury he suffered this season. They’ve been very clear that they don’t see any signs of a problem in his shoulder or elbow, which is good news, but they’ve also been unable, two-plus months in to get him straightened out and back to what everyone, including Strasburg knows he’s capable of doing.

He’s frustrated, he was hurting the team with short outings before the DL stint and the issues have seeming moved around his back over the last few starts, so they really have to get him sorted out and make sure he’s 100 percent before they even consider bringing him back. I don’t think it’s a create-a-DL stint “injury”, but I do think it’s a good chance for him to get straightened out without having to try to do it against major league hitters in games that count, but he’s a huge part of this rotation and they need “Stephen Strasburg” back, not the pitcher they’ve had thus far this season.

Keefe: Three weeks ago, the Nationals were red hot, and you seemed to not be worried at all about their chances of winning the NL East. The Nationals are only a 1/2 game back of the Mets with one game in hand on them, but the Braves, despite being under .500 are only 3 1/2 games back in the division.

Every team has their question marks and with the Nationals’ offense struggling and their rotation not being what it was projected to be, are you still confident in the Nationals winning the East?

Reddington: I am confident that the Nationals’ talent will ultimately win out in the division, and that’s taking nothing away from the Mets, who are doing it without their franchise third baseman and the Braves, who completely reassembled to the roster around their young talent and are impressing me thus far this season with what they’ve been able to accomplish. That being said, which is a rhetorical device for wiping away that praise, I still think the Nationals are a better team than either of those two clubs.

After the Nationals dropped three of four to the Cubs this past weekend, Matt Williams said he wasn’t worried, noting that they struggled in April, turned it on in May and are back to struggling again. “Ebbs and flows” etc. But I don’t think it’s just manager speak. I think they have to get as healthy as possible and get Strasburg and Doug Fister back in the rotation before we can really judge just what the team is this season.

Blogs • Yankees

Jun 9, 2015

The Pray for Rain Power Rankings

There aren’t many pitchers in the league that you can basically chalk up as a loss before the game is even played, but whenever the Yankees play a team with one of these pitchers, they land him.

On Tuesday night, the Yankees will face Max Scherzer. So far this season, the Yankees have faced David Price, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Chris Archer, Sonny Gray and Felix Hernandez. When the Yankees face a team with a real true ace (or in the case of the Mets, two aces), they don’t miss him. There aren’t many pitchers in the league that you can basically chalk up as a loss before the game is even played, or at least give the Yankees little-to-no chance of beating them, and whenever they play a team with one of these pitchers, they land him.

Now that Jon Lester is not only out of the AL East, but out of the AL, and Scherzer is in the NL as well, the starting pitchers I hope the Yankees miss the most have changed. Here are the five pitchers I pray for rain to throw off the rotation and schedule before the Yankees have to face them.

1. Felix Hernandez
When the Yankees faced King Felix last Monday night, I figured I would be able to go to bed early with the 10:05 p.m. start in Seattle because the Yankees would either be unable to score against him and there would be not point in continuing to watch or because their lack of hitting would result in a two-hour game.

Felix had a 1-2-3 six-pitching first inning. Then he had a 1-2-3 eight-pitch second inning. And then he had a 1-2-3 six-pitch third inning. Nine up, nine down on 20 pitches. It felt like a perfect game might happen until the fourth inning, when the Yankees scored two runs on two hits and three walks in the most un-Felix-like inning ever. That is until the next inning when Felix gave up five runs, including a grand slam to Mark Teixeira. Felix finished the game with the following line: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 4 K, 1 HR. Even with the Yankees hitting Felix like they never have, he’s still the best pitcher in the American League and at times, in the world (when Clayton Kershaw isn’t doing whatever he was doing in April and May).

I remember when Felix was a 19-year-old rookie who took a loss to the Yankees on Aug. 31, 2005 despite allowing only two earned runs over eight innings. And I also remember what he did to the Yankees in three starts in 2010: 3-0, 0.35 ERA, 26 IP, 16 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 BB, 31 K, 1 HR.

Felix is my most feared opposing pitcher in the AL and that isn’t going to change.

2. Chris Archer
The current AL leader in strikeouts has never lost to the Yankees and not only has he not lost to the Yankees in his seven starts against them (5-0, 2.02 ERA), but he has barely been touched by them: 49 IP, 34 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 6 BB, 33 K, 1 HR.

Because the Yankees face the Rays 19 times a season, I have to map out in advance if Archer will be seeing them, which I will be doing for Fourth of July weekend when the Rays head to the Stadium. Unfortunately, Archer signed a six-year, $25.5 million extension on April 2, 2014 with the Rays, which keeps Archer in Tampa Bay through 2019 with club options for 2020 and 2021. Archer isn’t leaving the AL East anytime soon.

3. Chris Sale
The Yankees have never done well against left-handers in my lifetime, especially those either making their Major League debut or those who the Yankees have never seen before. It was once again the case just last week when they were only about to score one run on four hits against the Mariners’ Mike Montgomery in his Major League debut in Seattle.

When it comes to elite left-handers, things are even worse. Cliff Lee, Jon Lester and David Price were all the most feared lefty to face the Yankees at one point, but now that title goes to the White Sox’ ace. Sale has never lost to the Yankees and in his five career starts against the Yankees he hasn’t just won, but he has dominated them. Here are his five career starts against the Yankees:

Aug. 22, 2012: 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 13 K, 1 HR

Aug. 6, 2013: 7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 0 HR

Sept. 3, 2013: 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 1 HR

May 22, 2014: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K, 0 HR

Aug. 24, 2014: 6 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 0 HR

His total line: 35 IP, 17 H, 7 R, 2 ER, 9 BB, 44 K, 2 HR.

4. David Price
If Price’s last two starts against the Yankees hadn’t happened then he would be higher than No. 4 on this list. But those two disastrous starts did happen and along with that, the Yankees have seen him much more than they have Chris Sale and their experience against Price lessens the fear I have of him.

Those two starts I talked about were on Aug. 27, 2014 (2 IP, 12 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, including nine straight hits in the third inning) and on April 22, 2015 (2.1 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 3 BB, 2 K). Those two starts have caused Price’s career ERA against the Yankees to inflate to 4.41 over 26 starts and one relief appearance. His 10-7 record against the Yankees with that ERA aren’t exactly the most dominant numbers, but he’s still the second-best left-hander in the AL, who has the ability to shut down the Yankees in a big spot and he has before.

Since he’s an impending free agent, I might not have to worry about him facing the Yankees after this season.

5. Sonny Gray
Not even two weeks ago Gray made just his second career start against the Yankees, going eight innings and allowing two earned runs and four hits for the win. The current AL ERA (1.65) and WHIP (0.915) leader is only 25 with only 55 career starts and after an impressive first full season in 2014, he is making his run for the AL Cy Young.

There isn’t much to Gray’s career against the Yankees yet, but I have a bad feeling there will be. Either they will continue their usual bad luck track of never missing any elite pitcher and face him in the only two series they play against the A’s each season, or when Billy Beane inevitably trades him, he will trade him to an AL East team. Hopefully, when he’s traded, he’s traded out of the AL.

Blogs • Yankees

Apr 27, 2015

Subway Series Diary: Yankee Stadium

The Yankees won the first Subway Series of the season, stopped the Mets’ winning streak and reminded everyone they are and always will be New York’s team.

I love the Subway Series. I always have and always will. I don’t care if it’s not what it once was or if it doesn’t have the same appeal now that interleague play happens every day. And I certainly don’t care that Carlos Beltran thinks it’s not the same as it used to be since Carlos Beltran isn’t the same he used to be.

This Subway Series was the first one in a while that had real hype and real meaning given the state of the two teams and their first-place positions. Yankees fans wanted to let the Mets fans know that the city isn’t up for grabs and Mets fans wanted to “invade” Yankee Stadium and let Yankees fans know that the Mets might be relevant for a full season for the first time in seven years.

I decided to go to the diary format that I used for the Yankees-Red Sox series two weeks ago, which I have also used for the Subway Series in the past. Just pretend like you’re reading this in one of those black-and-white Mead composition notebooks.

FRIDAY
Last May, Jacob deGrom made his debut in the majors in the Subway Series at Citi Field and pitched seven innings, allowing one earned run on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts. He took the loss in a 1-0 game. On Friday, deGrom made his Yankee Stadium Subway Series debut and pitched five innings, allowing six earned runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts. And oh yeah, three home runs.

I remember in 2012 when Yankees fans complained about the team hitting too many home runs and not being able to string together hits and rallies and manufacture runs. That Yankees team went to the ALCS. The last two years, I haven’t heard any Yankees fan complain about home runs because the team has been unable to hit them, leading to two embarrassing offensive seasons and back-to-back postseason-less seasons. It’s good to have the Bronx Bombers back.

I know Mark Teixeira has been my go-to source for “Ladies and gentlemen” for the last four or so seasons and rightfully so given his admission of breaking down, his horrific production and his long list of injuries and disabled list visits. But so far this season Teixeira has been all we can ask for of him at this point: a power-hitting first baseman, who could care less about hitting for average.

No matter what Teixeira says, he isn’t going to try to go to the other way left-handed or try to beat the shift with a bunt now and then. He’s always going to have one thing on his mind from the left side and that’s trying to reach the short porch in right. If he hits .100 from the left side and .200 overall because of it, he doesn’t care. He’s going to keep on doing it. So far his plan has worked with two home runs against deGrom (and another one on Sunday against Harvey) and after the series he had eight home runs on the year with 18 RBIs in 18 games. Project those numbers out for a full season and that’s 68 home runs and 161 RBIs in 161 games (since he had one game off). Teixeira has a better chance of hitting 68 home runs with 161 RBIs than he does of playing every game the rest of the season, but I just want him to keep hitting home runs and I will forget about him getting out four out of every five at-bats.

SATURDAY
There’s not a whole lot to talk about from Saturday’s debacle other than that Matt Harvey was great and CC Sabathia was awful. I expected Harvey, a Yankees fan from New London, Conn., to come out and pitch a great game in his first Stadium audition for his 2019 team and he did just that. He’s an elite pitcher in the league and when you face someone like him, you can be giving up seven earned runs in five innings and think you’re going to win. You can’t even give up three runs in nine innings if you really want a chance of beating him.

Sabathia is now 0-4 with a 5.96 ERA in four starts. Five days after pitching a complete game in Detroit and taking the loss in a 2-1 game, Sabathia returned to his 2013-2014 self and was embarrassed by a bad Mets lineup. I have no idea how the Mets have been able to put together the best record in baseball given their lineup. Even with the greatest team pitching, which they haven’t gotten, no team should be off to the start the Mets are with their lineup, but somehow they are. If CC is going to give us one good performance every four starts this season, it’s going to be a long summer. A very, very long summer.

SUNDAY
The rubber game. When I saw the pitching matchups for this series before it started, I expected a split in the first two games and then figured it would come down to Nathan Eovaldi-Jonathon Niese on Sunday Night Baseball, and that’s exactly what happened. Yes, I’m a genius. Now if only I could get that kind of prediction right for a 12-team MLB parlay this week.

So far Brian Cashman’s offseason trades have been disastrous. Didi Gregorius can’t hit or field or run the bases and Shane Greene is 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA. Nathan Eovaldi can’t put away hitters with two strikes despite throwing high-90s and close to 100 mph and the Yankees sure could use Martin Prado’s right-handed bat and versatility around the field. (David Phelps is whatever).

It’s hard to watch Eovaldi pitch. (Though it might not be as hard as it is to watch the Mets play defense.) He’s basically Phil Hughes 2.0 with even better stuff, which makes him even more frustrating. How can he not strike anyone out despite throwing so hard, and like Curt Schilling and John Kruk said on ESPN, why is he trying to making his best pitch of each at-bat on the first pitch of each at-bat? He is throwing 0-2 put-away pitches on the first pitch to each hitter. Where is the work Cashman preached that Larry Rothschild would do with him to turn his career around? Eovaldi is 25 and has thrown 481 2/3 innings in the majors. You would think by now he would have figured out how to strike someone out with exceptional velocity, but he hasn’t.

It’s crazy that Eovaldi doesn’t have a strikeout-per-inning this season and it’s even crazier that he has allowed 31 hits in 21 2/3 innings. How are either of those things possible for someone with his talent? How? HOW? H-O-W?

I don’t usually agree with Joe Girardi, but I loved his decision to pull Eovaldi in the fifth inning. It was sort of punishment for not getting through five and nearly blowing a three-run lead. Chasen Shreve came in and did the job and he was followed by Chris Martin and Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller, who have become the best 1-2 bullpen in the majors and have shortened Yankees games to seven innings. If the league wants shorter games, forget pitch clocks after commercial breaks and not letting hitters step out of the box if they take a pitch. Just make it a rule that if the Yankees are winning after seven innings then the game is over since it is anyway with Betances and Miller. Here is their combined line for the season: 18.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 11 BB, 31 K. That’s real life.

The Yankees won their third straight series and improved to 8-2 in their last 10 and remain in a tie atop the AL East except with the Rays and not the Red Sox. For another Subway Series, the Mets and their fans were reminded that they are the little brother in this city. And because of that, I will always love the Subway Series.

Blogs • Email Exchanges • Subway Series

Apr 24, 2015

The Subway Series Once Again Has Significance

For the first time in years, the Subway Series will actually mean something for both teams in what is a renewed rivalry in the city.

For the time in Subway Series history, both the Yankees and Mets enter the series with at least a share of first place in their respective division. It’s crazy to think this is the first time that has happened considering how competitive both teams were in the early- and mid-2000s, but apparently it’s true and as a result we have the most hyped Subway Series in years.

With the, I did an email exchange with Eric Simon of Amazin’ Avenue to talk about if the Subway Series still has meaning, the result of the Lucas Duda-Ike Davis Debate and the Mets taking the best record in baseball into the Bronx.

Keefe: I have always been a fan of interleague play and the Subway Series. In years when both teams were good it was fun because, well, both teams were good. And in years when the Mets weren’t good, it was fun because it meant some easy wins for the Yankees. A lot of people have complained about the series losing its luster in recent years, but I have always enjoyed it. In a 162-game season, you need games like this to break up the monotony of playing the same divisional opponents every series.

This year, we’re back to the mid-2000s when both teams were competitive, and when both fan bases cared about the series and got up for the series. This Subway Series has the first feeling of a big series since probably 2009. While I don’t enjoy the Mets being good or riding an 11-game winning streak entering the series, I’m happy their relevance has brought the Subway Series back to life.

Are you a fan of the Subway Series?

Simon: I’m pretty ambivalent about the Subway Series at this point. I’m not generally a fan of interleague play to begin with and would favor a return to the balanced intra-league schedule of years past. That, of course, can’t happen now that each league has an uneven number of teams, so we’re stuck with interleague play for better or worse.

Mets-Yankees games do still have a little more excitement than your average games. I can’t say I loathe the Yankees the way I once did, but something about reading the local scribes celebrating a Yankees victory over the Mets probably does get under my skin a little bit.

Keefe: Mets fans are the most optimistic they have been in years with the hot start to the season. It seems like every Mets fan I know has taken to social media in some regard to hint at a future World Series parade this coming fall. I wish the Mets were doing as well as they are, but it’s a welcome sight to have both New York teams playing well at the same time again to increase the hype for the weekend. However, there are some still-pessimistic Mets fans waiting for the other shoe to drop and trying not to get ahead of themselves with April success.

Which type of Mets fan are you?

Simon: I’m pretty realistic about the Mets. This means I don’t dash for the nearest bridge when things are going badly, but I also tend not to overstate the Mets’ case when things are going well.

So I guess I’m neither of the Mets fans you describe.

Keefe: The Mets’ rotation is one of the best in the league and the Yankees will see Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey in the first two games of the series and then they get Jon Niese in the finale, which isn’t exactly a picnic since the Yankees aren’t the best against lefties.

Bartolo Colon has been called the leader of the rotation, and this season he has certainly pitched like it. There was a lot of talk about the Mets using him as a trade chip last season, but they ended up keeping him and he his having another impressive year at age 42. His return to the majors and to prominence came in 2011 with the Yankees when he turned back the clock for most of that summer and looked like the 2005 Cy Young Award winner. After initially being disgusted that he had made the team as a reliever and then being annoyed that he would join the rotation, watching him pitch every five days became one of the best parts of that season.

What has Colon meant to the young rotation?

Simon: Ballplayers will tell you how this or that veteran is a great leader or clubhouse presence or guiding hand or whatever. I suspect Colon is all of those things, but I’m not particularly interested in the details.

Colon has been great for the Mets this season and utterly entertaining nearly every time he starts. That’s good enough for me.

Keefe: I remember when Ike Davis made his debut and it was an event for the Mets and Mets fan. But over time, he fell out of favor, got injured and also sick and then was eventually traded to Pittsburgh. The Mets picked Lucas Duda over Davis in the great Davis-Duda Debate and it worked out for them last year when Duda hit 30 home runs with 92 RBIs.

It always seemed like they were very close to same player and that’s what made the debate even harder because no one really had a real grasp on which of the two would end up having better career. Now this season, both are off to hot and almost identical starts with Davis now in Oakland and it makes the comparison between them even crazier.

Were you on the Davis or Duda side of the debate? Were you upset that Davis didn’t become the next icon for the Mets?

Simon: I was a big Ike Davis supporter when he came up and looked like Keith Hernandez with power, and I soured on him like everybody else did when he stopped hitting altogether and his defense deteriorated. Lucas Duda might be my favorite Met at the moment, and I’m thrilled that he’s been playing so well since the Mets traded Davis.

Especially now that he’s in the American League, I’m happy to root for Davis and I hope he has his career back on track in Oakland.

Keefe: A lot of people thought the Mets would be competitive this year and if everything broke right they could be in the mix for a wild-card spot and somewhere around 90 wins. Through the first 15 games of the season, they have exceeded expectations with a perfect 10-0 start at home, incredible starting pitching and timely hitting. Basically everything that has gone wrong for the Mets in recent years since the 2007 collapse has gone right for them in the first two-plus weeks of the season.

What were you expectations for the Mets before the season started and have they changed at all after the 13-3 start?

Simon: I thought the Mets would be a little better than .500 and that if a few things went their way they’d be competing for one of the two wild cards in the National League. They’re not going to win 80 percent of their games all year, but they’ve been a lot of fun to watch through these first 16 games and certainly my expectations for them have changed a good deal—perhaps more than they should—after their hot start.

I’d say they’re now more likely than not to make the playoffs in one way or another, but I wouldn’t quite pencil them in as NL East champs at this point.

Tag: Matt Harvey

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