As Juan Soto Returns To Yankee Stadium, Subway Series Contains Other Storylines

New York Mets’ Juan Soto (22) hits an RBI single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against ... More the Chicago Cubs Friday, May 9, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) The “Subway Series” has existed since June 16, 1997, when Dave Mlicki pitched a shutout in Yankee Stadium and the Mets and Yankees have engaged in 470-plus hours in regular season games plus a memorable five-game World Series in 2000 documented in various books. There have been storylines galore and memorable games. Among the bigger storylines was Roger Clemens hitting Mike Piazza in 2000 and Shawn Estes throwing behind the seven-time Cy Young winner in June 2002 at Shea Stadium. Left out in the notable storylines is a free agent leaving the Yankees for the Mets at least until Dec. 11. That date became memorable in Mets’ history when Juan Soto decided to accept a 15-year, $765 million contract over a similar contract offer from the Yankees, whom he hit 41 homers for and the AL-pennant clinching homer. And the minute he accepted billionaire owner Steve Cohen’s offer, the outside world beyond the players looked to the calendar to find the date Soto and the Mets would be at Yankee Stadium for the first time. Along the discourse and talking points surrounding Soto’s impending visit to Yankee Stadium is an expected hostile reaction and it is a major storyline for the annual event consisting of teams in first place. “I don’t mind,” Soto told reporters Wednesday night after a rare off night for him and the rest of the team in a 4-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Soto probably does not mind because of not only the money but also he is often so locked into his at-bat to even notice the outside noise, just ask Cleveland reliever Hunter Gaddis about Soto being fully locked in. Soto is participating in the Subway Series hitting in front of Pete Alonso instead of Aaron Judge. Last year, Soto saw a career-high 2,960 pitches and might have even crossed the 3,000-mark if not for a minor elbow injury in mid-June. Judge seemingly benefited from watching Soto’s at-bats and delivered an all-world 58-homer, 144-RBI showing while hitting .322 and perhaps what he learned from those appearances last season is massively carrying over to this year since the two-time MVP has spent every day since April 14 with an average over .400 and even reached .430 fairly recently. New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge hits a single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the ... More Seattle Mariners, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear) Alonso may be benefitting from hitting behind Soto, who is up to 806 pitches seen as a Met. While Soto is not off to the sizzling start he began last year with, he is getting there and Alonso is enjoying a memorable start after there were some doubts about the Mets desire and willingness to retain when his free agency ran deep into the winter. Since Soto’s exit, there are various rumors such as the Yankees not wanting to give him perks but like many things with free agency money took precedent and it is hardly unexpected since nearly any player getting to free agency in many sports, especially baseball winds up with the highest bidder. The reaction will likely be hostile and probably louder than in 2014 when fans booed Robinson Cano returning with the Seattle Mariners but it will become a tiresome narrative after a while, especially when there are other dynamics at play. Among them is a youthful core of Yankees gradually developing into solid everyday players, the resurgence of Paul Goldschmidt, the brilliance of Max Fried in a year when Gerrit Cole is recovering from Tommy John surgery on his elbow. Throw those in with the steady improvement of Devin Williams in recent outings after a slow start led to Luke Weaver into the closer’s role. For the Mets, their other storylines besides Soto are the MVP-like showing from Francisco Lindor, who has thrived since being put in the leadoff spot nearly a year ago. Other notable storylines for the NL-runner ups include Edwin Diaz, whose velocity has dipped but he still remains effective with nine saves and a 3.01 ERA. And then there is the starting pitching. Questions were abounded when the Mets did not retain former Yankee Luis Severino but their starting pitching has been amongst the best in the game so far highlighted by them being able to correct whatever led to Griffin Canning’s struggles with the Angels. And another one is the managerial matchup between Aaron Boone and his former bench coach Carlos Mendoza. Mendoza’s Mets won all four games last season at the time when his team was starting their resurgence and the Yankees were in their worst stretch en route to 94 wins and an AL pennant. Either way, the event is fun and it may even become slightly secondary to the events going in Midtown Manhattan when the Knicks tip off against the Celtics in Game 6 around the time the first Subway Series is reaching the third inning or so. “Especially all that’s going on in New York right now with the Knicks hopefully on the verge of a (playoff) series win and us playing the Mets and all that goes with that,’’ Boone said. “Hopefully, the weather’s good and provides for an exciting weekend for our city.’’ Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryfleisher/2025/05/16/as-juan-soto-returns-to-yankee-stadium-subway-series-contains-other-storylines/