It’s a great time to be a baseball fan in the Empire State. The New York Yankees and New York Mets are both relevant franchises in Major League Baseball and almost clashed in the World Series last year. Now the Bronx Bombers and the Amazin’s are holding multiple game leads in their respective divisions and will meet in a highly anticipated series this weekend.
Surprisingly, there are going to be multiple players in this series who have experienced this rivalry before, just on the side of the Yankees. Of course, the headline player is Juan Soto, who will likely receive some kind of Bronx cheer on Friday. However, star reliever Clay Holmes also made the free agent trek from Yankee Stadium to Citi Field this past offseason.
The 32-year-old was a two-time All-Star in the Bronx as a closer. Holmes will not be closing games anytime soon for the Mets as he has made the transition from reliever to starting pitcher, and so far, it’s gone pretty well. Holmes was the opening day starter a few months ago and now is 5-2 with a .314 ERA.
In a postgame interview with SNY, newly minted ace expressed his excitement for the upcoming Subway Series, especially as a visitor to Yankee Stadium.
“Yeah, it’ll be my first time on the visiting side. I’m looking forward to it,” Holmes said. “Still know a few guys over there. It’ll be fun to go back there as a visitor and hopefully get a few wins. Should be a great atmosphere. The Subway Series are always fun playing in, and I expect no different this time.”
Overall, it should be an electric weekend of baseball. Both Yankees and Mets fans are dreaming of a Subway Series World Series for the first time since 2000 and while they are a long way from that, both of these rosters have the upside to make this dream a reality.
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