00:00The Yankees are the better team, but do they actually have the advantage going into this year's Subway Series?
00:05Our New York Post MLB reporter Dan Martin is on to break down the game within the games that you're
00:12going to see out in Flushing this weekend.
00:14Dan, appreciate you hopping on with us.
00:17Before you get on that 7 train to head on out to Flushing, let's break down this series and break
00:22down the matchups that we're going to see.
00:24And we'll start with at the plate. Who has the edge to get on base?
00:31Well, Brandon, you know, it's the Yankees because they've got two of the best on base guys in baseball and
00:38Aaron Judge and Ben Rice.
00:40Cody Bellinger gets the job done there as well.
00:43And, you know, everyone knows the offensive problems that the Mets have had all year long, whether it's because of
00:49injuries or underperformance.
00:50But basically, Juan Soto is the only guy getting on base consistently throughout the season when he's been healthy.
00:57The wild card here is Carson Bench coming alive at the plate the last couple of weeks.
01:03And obviously, A.J. Ewing coming up a few days ago, maybe changing the dynamics of the whole series.
01:07But certainly with the Mets lineup has looked better with those two rookies in it.
01:12Let's talk about the guys who are now in charge to keep these guys off the base.
01:17We'll talk overall pitching staff. Which rotation and bullpen do you feel is stronger going into the first Subway series
01:25of this year?
01:26I mean, the way it lines up this this series, the Yankees do because they miss Nolan McLean, which I'm
01:33sure they're happy about.
01:34The Yankees have their rookie right-hander going, Cam Schlittler, or a first-year player.
01:40You know, the two guys, Schlittler and McLean, have kind of taken over the city.
01:44But the Yankees got fortunate. McLean pitched yesterday, so they're going to miss him.
01:49But, yeah, you've got Schlittler. You've got Carlos Redon trying to get his command right.
01:54If he does that, he's dangerous.
01:56And Ryan Weathers is coming off a great start where he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
02:00So they feel good about where they are. And, you know, the Mets, they've had good pitching all year.
02:07The middle game of this series is going to be the tricky one with, you know, David Peterson probably being
02:12the bulk guy.
02:12That's been a bit of a mess. But they have Peralta going in the finale. He's been better.
02:17So, you know, it's pretty even. But obviously the Yankees, just the way it lines up, they have a little
02:21bit of an edge here.
02:22But the Mets have the capability of pitching at least two good games.
02:26What expectations do you have on Carlos Redon?
02:29Well, you know, he had his first start and obviously it wasn't great.
02:33You know, he talked about not having the best command.
02:36I saw him up in Worcester when I was the last time I talked to you, Brandon.
02:40I had just been up there and watched Anthony Volpe play.
02:44Redon happened to make his final rehab appearance there.
02:47And, you know, he hasn't looked like himself yet coming back from that elbow surgery.
02:51He says he's healthy. He is healthy.
02:53It's just a matter of, you know, it's tough when you don't have a full spring training.
02:56You kind of come into the season at midway.
02:58So the Yankees are counting on him kind of getting the rust off here as he builds up his innings,
03:04builds up his pitch count.
03:05So I would expect better performance from Carlos Redon as we go along and just kind of as he gets
03:12into the flow of the season,
03:13which is tough to do when you make your debut in May as opposed to in April.
03:17All right, let's go to the infield.
03:19You just mentioned a guy who has all eyes of New York, or at least in the Bronx, on him,
03:25and that's Anthony Volpe.
03:26He's joined the Yankees infield.
03:29Who do you feel as though has the bigger infield advantage going into the Subway Series?
03:36I mean, the Yankees do overall, but Volpe, he's going to be a focal point, at least for the next
03:41week or so,
03:42while Jose Caballero is out.
03:45You know, Aaron Boone said that Caballero would get his starting job back at short when he's healthy.
03:52I think it would be interesting to see what would happen if Anthony Volpe played as well as he's capable
03:56of playing to make things interesting.
03:58But he made an error the other day, so he still looks shaky defensively.
04:01We'll see if he can kind of get going at the plate and give himself a chance to stick around
04:07in the Bronx after Caballero returns in a week or so from the finger injury.
04:11But, you know, the Mets infield is kind of a state of flux right now.
04:15They've got, you know, Bichette playing shortstop.
04:18They've got Vientos playing first base.
04:20It seems like they're trying to figure it out with Lindor obviously on the shelf for a while with that
04:25calf injury.
04:27The infield's been a disaster all year.
04:28It's been one of their biggest issues as to why they've gotten off to such a bad start.
04:33But they're getting a little consistency now.
04:36But overall, the Yankees have the better infield overall and with health as well.
04:42If I was to put the Anthony Volpe overall defensive errors for the series at one and a half, would
04:48you take the over or the under?
04:52I'll take the under because I don't know how familiar you are with what official scoring is like these days.
04:58Brandon, but it's hard to it's hard to make an error these days.
05:01They are very inclined to give hits whenever possible, especially to the home team.
05:07It just makes life easier for everyone.
05:09But MLB wants more hits in the game.
05:11So sometimes you see a ball and I'll mark down E6 or E4 without even thinking about it.
05:17And it's a hit.
05:19So sometimes the beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
05:22So the actual stat, I'll take the under, but we'll all be watching his defense pretty closely to see if
05:29it's any better than it was last year.
05:30Okay, they're grading on a scale.
05:32That's how I got through high school, Dan.
05:33Let's go to the outfield.
05:35Whose outfield has a better chance of making plays this series?
05:40I mean, you've got Benj, you know, in right field now and A.J. Ewing in center.
05:46It changes everything.
05:47You know, Luis Robert Jr. was off to a bad start.
05:49You know, they were just kind of a mess.
05:51So now you've got both of those guys willing and able to make athletic plays.
05:56You know, Benj has made a couple of miscues out there as well, but he's made some fantastic plays.
06:01So they're certainly the more entertaining outfield to watch right now.
06:04And A.J. Ewing, you know, made his bones as a defensive center fielder coming up through the minors.
06:10So that'll be interesting to watch.
06:12You know, the Yankees have a solid defense as well in Judge and Wright and Bellinger and left.
06:18And Grisham can sometimes make a mistake or two in center.
06:21But the more athletic, exciting defensive outfield will probably be the Mets.
06:28We'll see if it's the better one by the time it's said and done.
06:32All right.
06:32Let's go overall, because both of these teams, obviously, they're playing for bragging rights.
06:36But the Yankees need to win this series to kind of get back on track.
06:40And the Mets need it just for good vibes overall.
06:44So who do you feel as though will win this series this weekend?
06:48I mean, you have to figure the Yankees will because they've been the better team.
06:51But to your point, you know, I don't know how much buzz there would have been about this series a
06:57week ago.
06:57So because the Mets were in such a disarray overall, but they've they've played better of late.
07:02They just came off their first sweep of the season.
07:05They beat the Tigers three games in a row at home.
07:07You know, a couple of walk off hits, a lot of excitement with Benj and Ewing in particular.
07:12The fact that those two guys are going really has changed the whole atmosphere around the team.
07:17I don't know how long it'll last.
07:19I don't know if it's going to be enough for them to sustain a rally here and kind of get
07:23their season resuscitated because it sure looked dead a couple of weeks ago.
07:27The Yankees are coming off a rough stretch here on the road, but they're just a consistent team.
07:34They're going to win 90 to 95 games.
07:37Whether the Mets get them at the right time because the Yankees are not playing their best, you know, they
07:42definitely have a chance to to make a mark here.
07:44And I think the Mets know that they have to play with some urgency.
07:48They want to get back into the swing of things here.
07:52They're still, I think, eight or nine games under 500, but they're two weeks away from getting back to 500
07:58if they if they play well enough.
08:00And as we've seen so far in this baseball season, very few teams are really good.
08:06You know, there's just a bunch of teams around 500.
08:08So that's all you need to do to to get to be competitive and certainly to give David Stearns a
08:15reason to to look to buy at the trade deadline instead of selling, which it looked like he might have
08:20to do a week or so ago when nothing was going right.
08:24So, you know, it'll be a good barometer, especially for the Mets, because the Yankees are going to be fine
08:29regardless of what happens this weekend.
08:31The Mets really have a lot to play for until they get their feet back underneath them.
08:36And it looks like they they might have a chance to do that.
08:38See if we can see a little Mets magic to save the series and save their season.
08:43Dan Martin, appreciate you hopping on with us and be well, friend.
08:48Thanks, Brandon. Talk to you soon.
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