The Yankees will be looking to avoid a fifth straight loss when they face the Mets on Monday.
The Yankees are in a position that not many are used to, as the they have pretty much given up their hopes of making the postseason and have started to sell off their assets. They will, however, be giving it their all in this series, as this is still a local rivalry and the Yankees will be hoping to make things a bit tougher on the Mets to make the postseason. The Mets are coming off of a 6-4 victory over the Rockies on Sunday, but they had lost four straight games heading into that one and must start to rattle off some more wins soon.
The starters in this Monday matchup are set to be LHP C.C. Sabathia (6-8, 3.95 ERA, 81 K) for the Yankees and RHP Logan Verrett (3-6, 4.12 ERA, 51 K) for the Mets. One interesting thing worth noting is that the Mets are 23-5 against the money line when playing on Monday over the past two seasons. They are also 75-39 against the money line when the line is -100 to -150 over the past two seasons. OF Yoenis Cespedes (Quad) is, however, questionable for the Mets in this one.
Sabathia is coming off of a very good start for the Yankees, allowing just two earned runs in 6.2 innings of work. The lefty struck out five batters in that game, but he did allow two solo homers and will need to avoid making big mistakes like that on Monday. He has now allowed two homers in two of his past five starts and needs to keep the ball in the park on Monday.
Offensively, the Yankees have no experience against Verrett. They also traded OF Carlos Beltran (.304, 22 HR, 64 RBI) to the Texas Rangers today, losing their best hitter by a mile. Without Beltran, the Yankees are clearly throwing in the towel for 2016 and it’ll be tough for the Yankees to score moving forward.
Another guy to keep an eye on for the Yanks is SS Didi Gregorius (.292, 11 HR, 43 RBI). Gregorius has surprisingly emerged as one of the best hitters on this team and the Yankees can use some production out of him on Monday. He is, however, 0-for-7 over the past two contests and needs to break out of this slump.
Logan Verrett will be on the mound for the Mets on Monday and he has pitched very well for the Mets recently. In Verrett’s last 18.1 innings of work, he has allowed just seven earned runs. If he could come through with something close to a quality start on Monday then the Mets would be in very good shape, as they should be able to hit Sabathia in this one.
Offensively, the Mets to keep an eye on are OF Yoenis Cespedes (.291, 22 HR, 58 RBI) and 2B Neil Walker (.259, 17 HR, 45 RBI). Cespedes might not play in this game, but he is this team’s bet source of power and it would be big if he were to be in the lineup on Monday. With Sabathia’s inability to throw his fastball with any velocity, Cespedes could easily send one out of the park in this one. Walker, meanwhile, is on a tear for the Mets, as he has gone 12-for-19 with a homer and five RBI over the past five games. He’ll be hoping to keep it up in this game against the Yankees.
