Mets joining Yankees with postseason dreams following long flight from Miami
Mets starting pitcher Jose Quintana delivers against the Yankees during the first inning of an MLB baeball game at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The sleep-deprived Mets, whose plane issues didn’t them back from Miami until sunrise early Tuesday morning, were supposed to be the groggy team heading into the Subway Series opener.
And yet it was the Yankees, fully-rested after Monday’s Bronx matinee rout of the Rays, who posted a lineup card that manager Aaron Boone apparently plucked from some reality-warping fever dream.
Super-utility sub Jahmai Jones hitting leadoff? J.D. Davis in the cleanup spot? Anthony Volpe right behind him?
Luis Severino taunting his former team (and friends) with that “two good hitters” lineup jab becomes more prophetic by the day. In the Yankees’ case, the truth hurts.
Of course, it was easier for Severino to poke his pinstriped buddies when he didn’t have to step back into the Bronx lion’s den and take the mound wearing the Mets’ colors. That duty fell to a pair of lefthanders, Jose Quintana and Sean Manaea, allowing Severino to watch from the safety of the visitor’s dugout.
“They know it was just a little inside joke,” Severino said before Tuesday night’s game.
Still, the Yankees haven’t been in the best of moods lately. Even after beating up the Rays with Monday’s rare offensive outburst, they’ve lost 20 of their last 30 games, scrambling to find consistency with either the lineup or the starting rotation. Looking at Tuesday’s batting order, Boone probably figured that alignment couldn’t do any worse, as long as Juan Soto and Aaron Judge remained in their regular slots.
Jones, making his leadoff debut, had never batted higher than fifth while playing in only 30 games, a limited series of cameos that helps explain why his offensive numbers (.256 BA, .734 OPS) are among the most respectable on the roster. He becomes the Yankees’ fifth leadoff hitter this season, briefly dethroning rookie Ben Rice, who took a seat against the lefty Quintana.
Just as surprising as Jones ascension, however, was the return of J.D. Davis to cleanup — or in the lineup at all. The former Met made his Yankees’ debut during last month’s Subway Series, but has played in only five games. He just came off the IL with a severe stomach bug that not only sidelined Davis, but forced the Yankees to quarantine him in Tampa before the All-Star break as they finished the first half in Baltimore. Davis is supposed to be a weapon against lefties.
“It’s the reason we brought him in here,” Boone said pregame. “Obviously with the illness, and getting back healthy now, a few days of work here, hopefully ready to roll and give us a little spark.”
Tuesday’s righty-heavy lineup was a dice roll for the Yankees, just the latest permutation in an effort to scrape up some production around the Soto-Judge steamroller. That’s where Boone is at, until Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring) is ready early next month and maybe Jasson Dominguez (obligue) gets himself up to speed. With Dominguez expected to start playing at Triple-A Scranton within the week, the young slugger could be a welcome addition later in August.
As desperate as the Yankees are for impact bats, however, they’re not in the same playoff pinch as the Mets, who aren’t out of the woods quite yet as far as convincing the front office to buy big in the week leading up to the deadline. The weekend split of a four-game series in Miami wasn’t a huge vote of confidence coming out of the All-Star break, and the Mets — currently holding onto the third wild card — are in the midst of another crucial stretch before July 30: the Subway Series, four against Atlanta at Citi, then the Twins come to Queens to finish the month.
“For us, as quickly as we got to that spot, it can easily go away,” Pete Alonso said.
Along those lines, the Mets are facing the likelihood that rookie Christian Scott — who had injected some youthful energy into the rotation — will be lost for the rest of the season (and perhaps longer) after being diagnosed Tuesday with a sprain of his right UCL (often a precursor to Tommy John surgery). Manager Carlos Mendoza said before Tuesday’s game that Scott was still being evaluated, but the nature of the injury is never optimistic for the short term.
On a positive note, Kodai Senga remains on schedule to make his season debut Friday against Atlanta, but the sobering Scott injury was just the latest example of why the Mets could never seriously consider trading a starter in order to bolster another area of their roster. When Senga was on the horizon, and Scott was healthy, it did appear that the Mets had a surplus of starters. But that abruptly changed, and if they’re going to stay in contention, the Mets need to hold on to as many of their rotation arms as possible.
Scott aside, it was business as usual for the Mets before Tuesday’s Subway Series opener, and they weren’t pulling names out of a hat for that night’s lineup. Maybe a bit sleepy, sure. But fully functional.
“We’re ready to go,” Francisco Lindor said.
No rest for the weary when it comes to a playoff push.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
