The Yankees are chasing a division they trail and a Wild Card race that's tightening by the day. The Mets are already auditioning for 2027. Those two realities collide in the second game of this weekend's Subway Series set.
+Beat both the Angels and Rockies in recent single games
−Chisholm dealing with a fresh thumb issue
−Grisham's hamstring strain could end his season
−Weathers, Cruz and Schmidt all still working back from injury
The Yankees haven't announced a starter for this one, but the Mets are sending Zac Thornton (3-5, 3.53 ERA) to the mound — a 24-year-old they've been auditioning for next year's rotation all summer. His last time out was the roughest stretch of that audition, a 6-run, 5-inning outing against the Giants where he allowed 7 hits, and a Yankees lineup that just beat Colorado won't make it any easier to shake off.
New York's outfield picture got worse before it got better. Trent Grisham's hamstring strain has been upgraded to a Grade 2, and manager Aaron Boone has already floated that he could be out for the rest of the regular season. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is now dealing with a thumb issue of his own, and the Yankees are still waiting on Ryan Weathers, Fernando Cruz and Clarke Schmidt to work their way back from injury — a rotation and bench getting stretched at exactly the wrong time of year.
None of that changes the fact that Saturday is only the second game of this set — Friday's opener at Yankee Stadium comes first, and whatever happens there will shape who's available and how the lineups look by the time this one starts. Zoom out, though, and the broader picture is set: the Yankees are playing playoff baseball, and the Mets are not.
The Mets have won 3 in a row after a rough loss to San Francisco, and they took the first 2 of their set against the Marlins before this series began. It's a nice little run, but it's arriving on a 67-78 team that's already out of the division race. The Yankees, meanwhile, are 3-2 in their last 5 with wins in single-game tests against the Angels and Rockies sandwiched around a series loss to the Padres — choppier form, but form that matters a lot more given where they sit in the standings.
Juan Soto has been the one constant for a Mets team with nothing else to play for, hitting near a .950 OPS in a season that's otherwise been a lost one for New York's National League club. For the Yankees, every game down the stretch carries actual weight — a Wild Card spot to defend and a division gap to close — which is exactly why the injury attrition in the outfield and rotation matters more for them than it does for a Mets club just trying to finish the year on a high note.
