The Mets have now taken three straight games from the Yankees in 2024, with a chance to sweep the Subway Series on Wednesday night with Sean Manaea on the mound.
Over the last nearly two months, the Mets have been one of the better teams in the league, going from seemingly buried to in a playoff spot, while the Yanks have gone from the team with the best record in baseball to one of the worst teams in the league over the past six weeks. Have the tables turned to where the Mets are now the better team?
“Do you think the Yankees are a better team than the Mets?” Sal asked BT, who said he still believes the Yanks are better.
“Based on what exactly,” Sal replied. “Because they played well to start the season in the first two months?
“How is their record head-to-head? The Mets have won three. So going based on the record of the two teams…I’m going based on what I’ve seen. Since the end of May, the Mets have been one of the best teams in baseball, and the Yankees have been one of the worst.”
Sal doesn’t want to hear about the overall record or other stats that show the Yankees ahead of the Mets, as he says those stats were padded when the Yanks were playing like the best team in baseball for the first two months of the season, but have been crashing back down to earth ever since.
“I’m tired of hearing about the run differential,” Sal said. “The stats don’t mean anything, because the majority of those stats were built earlier in the year. It’s been seven weeks now, and the Yankees have been a mess. Seven weeks! That is not a small sample.
“Going into that first series in June, legit, for weeks leading up to it, we were like ‘Oh God, this is gonna be a slaughter.’ Then the Mets wiped the floor with the Yankees…it is remarkable. That is why we love sports. Nobody ever thought that would be the case.”