Yankees QB Drew Daniel Henson grabbed a huge opportunity to leave as cardinals offer $91.3million on…
Diehard New York baseball fans are looking forward to seeing their beloved teams compete in pennant races in 2024.
Unfortunately, with both the Mets and Yankees entering the new season featuring questionable pitching, I’m afraid that I don’t see either team making much noise this season.
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Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, who won the American League Cy Young award last season, has already suffered an inflamed elbow and will be sidelined for up to two months as he rests and hopefully recovers. Nestor Cortes will get the opening day nod on March 28 in Houston.
The Mets ace, Kodai Senga is also on the shelf for the start of the season with a right posterior capsule strain, that will keep him sidelined for at least a week, maybe two. Meanwhile, Mets slugger Pete Alonso, the face of the franchise and its one indispensable player, is worrying fans for a different reason. Alonso, who has hit 192 home runs in his first five Mets seasons, is entering the season without a contract extension. If Alonso and the team cannot reach an agreement, he can leave the Mets for another squad at the end of the season and the Mets will not get another player in return. Will Alonso stay in blue and orange? And can he remain focused this year with so much on the line? Mets owner Steve Cohen has already said he expects to not reach a deal in-season.
The Yankees have no such hitting worries. With Aaron Judge and new superstar Juan Soto hitting back-to-back, and joined by Gleyber Torres, Anthony Rizzo, D.J. LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton (when healthy), the Yankees will field a fearsome lineup. Soto may just be the best all-round hitter in the game. The Yankees will play a lot of 9-8 games, which is exciting, but not a good omen for a big-league team.
Still, even with all of the Yankees’ power, the team’s player to watch will be second-year shortstop Anthony Volpe, who showed flashes of brilliance in his rookie season.
Pitching means almost everything in Major League Baseball. Both New York teams come up short. Besides Cole, the Yankees cannot boast a reliable starting pitcher.