Luke Weaver and Devin Williams will walk out of the home bullpen at Citi Field this weekend wearing Mets colors, only a year after they were relievers for the Yankees. The setup turns a familiar crosstown rivalry into something even sharper: two former Bronx teammates facing many of the same players they used to share a clubhouse with.
Weaver said he is looking forward to the Subway Series because of the size of the rivalry and the stakes that come with it. “It’ll be obviously against a lot of old teammates and there’ll be a lot of playing for keeps at that point and trying to have the bragging rights,” he said. Williams echoed that feeling, saying he is not expecting the games to feel different simply because he is on the other side, but that he is eager for them all the same. He also said last year’s six-game season set between the clubs had “like a playoff feel in the middle of the year,” with both teams playing well when they first met.
The timing gives the series extra weight. The Mets are in last place in the NL East at 18-25, but they have won eight of their last 12 games after a 9-4 win over Detroit on Thursday afternoon at Citi Field. The Yankees, meanwhile, are in second place in the AL East at 27-17, two games behind Tampa Bay, but have stumbled on the road, losing two of three in Baltimore and going 1-5 over the first six games of the trip. A year ago, the teams split six games, a reminder that the games between them rarely settle cleanly.
There is also a wrinkle that makes this version of the Subway Series feel especially cross-wired. Juan Soto and Clay Holmes are now in the Mets clubhouse after coming over from the Yankees the year before, and Holmes will start the series opener. He said the best regular-season environment he has played in is “definitely a Mets-Yankees game,” adding that the passion on both sides and what it means for fans in New York City is impossible to miss. “This is a baseball town and the games feel like they mean so much more,” Holmes said.
For Weaver, the setting itself adds to the pressure. He said bullpen pitchers get chirped at by fans, and Citi Field gives them more exposure because the bullpen is more out in the open. He also said he found it kind of cool to watch Yankees and Mets fans interact in the stands, a small but telling detail in a rivalry built on proximity and pride. That is part of why the Subway Series endures as one of the best baseball events in New York: not just because the teams meet, but because players keep crossing the line between them and bringing old arguments with them.
By this weekend, the story will not be about who changed uniforms. It will be about who remembers the noise, handles it better and leaves with the bragging rights.
