The New York Mets (68-78) look to build upon their recent success as they return to New York to battle the New York Yankees (84-62) in Round Two of the Subway Series. The Mets took two out of three games in the Citi Field edition back in May, with New York winning that dramatic Sunday game after Tyrone Taylor tied it with a three-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning.
The Mets dug themselves out of the National League East cellar for the first time since late May thanks to a three-game sweep of the Marlins, paired with the Nationals getting swept by the Padres. The Mets flexed their muscle, scoring 31 runs on 39 hits across the three-game sweep, which included a see-saw 15-14 win on Wednesday night, as well as a 9-4 victory on Labor Day and a 7-5 win on Tuesday. In each game, the Mets built big leads, and in each of them they allowed the Marlins to creep back in, but they were able to hold down the fort to secure three W’s. The most dramatic was Wednesday’s series finale, when the Mets grew their lead to 8-0 before Miami came all the way back to tie it up. The Mets put up a six-spot immediately after the Marlins’ equalizer, punctuated by Francisco Lindor’s three-run homer. The Marlins tried to climb back but fell one run short.
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The Mets’ offensive heater has extended beyond just the series against the Marlins. Dating back to their 10-6 win against the Rays on September 2, they have put up at least nine runs in four of their last seven games, and their 60 runs during that span are the most in MLB. Meanwhile, they’ve collected the third-most home runs (14) and fourth-most hits (74) since September 2. Their 133 wRC+ is the best among all teams this month, and beyond that, they have the fourth-best BB% (10.7%) and K% (17.5%) among major league teams, so it’s been a really positive offensive showing all around for a team with little to play for beyond pride and proving themselves heading into 2027.
Brett Baty unfortunately exited the team’s last game with a knee injury—no word yet on if he will need to miss any time—because before exiting, he was on a real hater. Mired in another uneven season, Baty has contributed hits in six straight games, going 6-for-14 during the streak with three doubles, two homers, and a team-high 10 runs driven in. During that span, he leads the club with a 289 wRC+ and 0.5 fWAR. A.J. Ewing, following a long stretch without a run batted in, has broken out in a big way, posting a 226 wRC+ and 0.5 fWAR since September 2 while driving in seven runs and picking up 11 hits in 23 at-bats. The youngster has looked better at the plate to go along with his typically-stellar defensive play. Carson Benge, on the other hand, has struggled during the past week, picking up just five hits in his last 27 at-bats since September 2 while sporting a team-worst 72 wRC+, though his defense thankfully has not faltered. However, this ill-timed poor stretch could hurt him in the NL Rookie of the Year race.
Bo Bichette has been, unsurprisingly, hot during the month of September as well. Since the calendar turned to September, he’s hitting .313/.421/.531 with a 167 wRC+ (third on the club_, two homers, six runs scored, seven runs batted in, and 0.5 fWAR (tied with Ewing for the team best in September). It would be stunning to think back in April or May that Bichette’s incredible performance would be ‘unsurprising’ given how much he struggled in the first couple of months in New York. I suppose it would be unsurprising given his career success, but we have seen New York chew up and spit out plenty of great players in their prime.
Bichette, thankfully, has figured things out. Since June 3, Bichette is hitting .305/.351/.474 with 11 homers, 45 runs batted in, 43 runs scored, a 128 wRC+, and 2.3 fWAR (tops on the team). If we zoom out a bit, his wRC+ is 21st among the 80 qualified NL batters during that stretch, and his .825 OPS is 22nd. His offensive surge has helped push his SLG to right around .400 and get his wRC+ to 99, which is well below his career norm but much better than we could have reasonable expected in May. With an opt out looming, Bichette’s decision will pave the way for the team’s offseason strategy, though he still seems quite likely to opt in.
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The Yankees enter this series coming off a dominant sweep of the Rockies, which helped bring them to within three games of the Rays in the American League East race. The Yankees have been chasing the Rays since June 28, when Tampa Bay took over first in the AL East ‘for good’, and they have fallen as far bas as 6.5 games back on August 15. However, with their pitching, and the return of Aaron Judge, they seem primed to make a move in the waning weeks of the regular season. The Bronx Bombers do have a commanding 10.5 game lead in the AL Wild Card, four games clear of the Red Sox for the second Wild Card spot, so they figure to, at worst, have a home playoff series to kick things off if they can’t surpass the Rays.
Ben Rice continues to put up an MVP-caliber season for the Yankees, with 36 homers, 91 runs scored, and 88 runs batted in over 140 games. He leads the club with a 141 wRC+ and an .866 OPS and is third with 3.3 fWAR. Meanwhile, the big news is the return of Judge, who has gone 2-for-7 in three games since his return. He missed 99 games, which unfortunately will prevent him from winning a third straight AL MVP award, but he’s a huge addition to the team’s lineup right before the playoffs, and should make them as formidable as any team in the majors as they look for their first World Series title since 2009. But the Yankees will go as far as their pitching takes them. Their rotation is fearsome, sporting the best ERA (3.30) and FIP (3.62) in MLB, and the Mets will get a first-hand look this weekend while facing three of their four top starters.
McLean (2026): 161.2 IP, 179 K, 65 BB, 15 HR, 3.06 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 75 ERA-
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McLean picked up his second straight win after limiting the Giants to two earned runs over six innings back on September 4. He allowed six hits and walked four while striking out seven, his highest total since striking out eight Guardians hitters back on August 6. Over his last five dating back to August 11, he has gone 31 innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on 16 hits, with 23 strikeouts and 17 walks, as he continues to bolster his case for NL Rookie of the Year.
Rodón (2026): 64.0 IP, 70 K, 34 BB, 6 HR, 3.09 ERA, 3.81 FIP, 74 ERA-
Rodón’s season has been plagued by injuries, which has derailed any long-term success. His year began in May after he missed a little over month recovering from offseason elbow surgery, and then he missed over a month with left elbow inflammation. He has been limited to under 90 pitches in each of his four starts since returning on August 18, though he has been pretty solid in his four outings. In those games, he’s pitched a total 17 2/3 innings and allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits, with 18 strikeouts and eight walks. The Yankees have won three of those four starts. Rodón made his second start of the year against the Mets and picked up a loss after allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits over 3 2/3 innings at Citi Field on May 16.
Saturday, September 12: Zach Thornton vs. Gerrit Cole, 1:35 PM EDT on SNY
Thornton (2026): 66.1 IP, 51 K, 15 BB, 11 HR, 3.53 ERA, 4.48 FIP, 86 ERA-
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Thornton endured his roughest start at the major league level against the Giants, as he surrendered a career-worst four home runs after allowing seven across his first 11 outings. He was charged with six earned runs on seven hits over five innings, and he struck out six while walking one. As a result, his ERA jumped by over a half-run. Prior to this start, he had been charged with nine earned runs over his last 27 innings spanning five starts.
Cole (2026): 111.0 IP, 113 K, 22 BB, 17 HR, 3.41 ERA, 3.70 FIP, 82 ERA-
Cole has not quite been ‘vintage Cole’ since returning from Tommy John Surgery, but he’s been a big help to the team’s rotation, and a welcome addition after missing the first two months of the year. In his last start, he picked up the loss after allowing four earned runs on six hits over seven innings against the Padres. Like Thornton, he was tagged for four home runs (a season high) after serving up 13 home runs across his first 18 appearances in 2026. Cole has been really good about limiting free passes this year, making him a tough pitcher to face. Among starters with at least 100 innings under their belt, his 4.9% BB% is the fifth-best mark in the majors, trailing Nick Martinez, Tarik Skubal, Drew Rasmussen, and Chris Sale.
Scott (2026): 99.1 IP, 120 K, 44 BB, 10 HR, 3.81 ERA, 3.59 FIP, 93 ERA-
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Scott had a solid outing against the Giants, allowing two earned runs on four hits over 4 2/3 innings pitched. After walking nine batters across his last two starts, he made a big improvement by not walking anybody in his outing against San Francisco. He also struck out seven and threw 69% of his 80 pitches for strikes, which is his best percentage in quite a bit. It was an encouraging start after he allowed three earned runs or more in each of his five August starts.
Schlitter (2026): 171.2 IP, 210 K, 42 BB, 15 HR, 2.04 ERA, 2.62 FIP, 49 ERA-
Schlittler enters play on Sunday as the odds-on favorite to win the AL Cy Young Award. His 2.04 ERA is tops among AL starters, while his 2.62 FIP trails just Dylan Cease, who represents his stiffest competition for the baseball’s top pitching honor. He also leads all AL starters with 6.7 bWAR. He is coming off a dominant outing against the Rockies in which he limited Colorado to one earned run on three hits while striking out 10 over seven innings. Prior to that, he went eight innings against the Angels and allowed one earned run on two hits with nine strikeouts. After walking five in his start against the Red Sox on August 28, he has not issued a free pass in either of his previous two outings, and he’s generally pretty stingy with walks—his 6.2% BB% is tied for sixth among qualified AL starters. He also does not surrender a lot of homers, as his 0.79 HR/9 is third among qualified AL starters.
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