MLB Stock Report: Mets are a Buy; Yankees a Hold

If Major League Baseball were like the stock market, then both the Mets and Yankees find themselves in a solid position, even though it feels like they are going in opposite directions. The Mets sit in second in the NL East at 8-4, just a half game behind the Philadelphia Phillies. The Yankees are 7-5, a half game out of first in the AL East behind the suddenly surging Toronto Blue Jays.

The Mets can thank their pitching staff for getting them to this point. Before Tuesday's 10-5 victory over Miami that extended its winning streak to six games, the Mets led all of Major League Baseball in ERA at 1.72. And even after the bullpen got touched up a bit in a 5-0 loss to Miami on Wednesday, the Mets STILL lead baseball in ERA at 2.10.

The next closest team is the San Francisco Giants at 2.78. The G-Men are 9-3 on the year. So in a early season where everyone has gone wild over torpedo bats, solid enough pitching is proving once again to be the difference.

What makes the Mets early season run all the more amazing are two things. 1) They aren't hitting much at all as a ball club. Aside from Pete Alonso (.333 BA, 3 HR, 15 RBI), the Amazin's are hitting only .210 as a team. That is ranked 22nd in all of baseball.

The Mets are also tied for 20th in home runs with only nine, and are 22nd in on base percentage (.293).

Juan Soto is hitting a respectable .279, but has only one homer and four RBI to show for it. Perhaps the pressure of the contract is hurting him early. Francisco Lindor, who is notorious for struggling in April, was hitting only .172 after Sunday's win over Toronto. To his credit, Lindor did heat up a bit against the Marlins, but the struggles were omnipresent.

The rest of the lineup? Brett Baty (.111), Jose Siri (.059), Tyrone Taylor (.154) and Jesse Winker (.208). YIKES.

2) The Mets pitching staff has been great without a true ace at the top of the rotation. With Sean Manaea out until next month as he comes back from an oblique, there was reason to worry about the depth of the Mets staff. But so far the likes of David Peterson, Tylor Megill, Kodai Senga, and Clay Holmes have been up to the task. The Mets rotation has been charged with only 16 earned runs through two weeks.

The Mets bullpen has been solid enough, although it did get touched up at the back end of the Marlins series.

From Thunder Sticks to Fiddle Sticks

The Yankees were the talk of the baseball world in Week 1. Nine homers in one game against the Milwaukee Brewers, and 15 bombs for that entire series had people talking about the Torpedo Bats. Were they legal? What should baseball do?

Well, the answer is nothing. Even Commissioner Rob Manfred endorsed the use of the bats, which are available to any player in baseball who wants them.

However since that sweep of the Brew Crew, the Yankees have gone 4-5 in their last nine games. The Yanks even lost three straight (two in Detroit, and one in Pittsburgh). In the last four games combined the Yankees have only one home run. So much for the torpedo bats.

Not only is the offense cooling down a problem for the Bombers, but the pitching has been suspect.

Carlos Rodon (5.19); Carlos Carrasco (7.71); Will Warren (6.00), and Marcus Stroman (7.12) all have ERAs over five. Only Max Fried has been reliable pitching a 1.56 ERA in three starts. Fried is 2-0, including getting a win on Wednesday in Detroit.

Ryan Yarbrough, Fernando Cruz and Mark Leiter Jr. have all been touched up out of the pen. Closer Devin Williams has struggled so far allowing four earned runs in five innings.

Pitching was a big concern for the Yankees entering the year when Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil both went down with injuries. Gil is out til June; Cole is done for the year. If the Yankees are going to be a true contender in the A.L. the pitching has to improve.

NEXT UP: The Mets and Yankees swap traditional Bay Area opponents. The Yankees will face the San Francisco Giants at Yankee Stadium on Friday. The Mets are in Sacramento to face the Oakl...um... Sacrament...ummm... Las Veags ... no, not yet .. The A's.