Why the Mets are better than the Yankees

For the first time in a long time, both the New York Mets and the New York Yankees are two of the top teams in Major League Baseball. The rivalry between the two teams' fan bases is arguably boring this year because both teams are playing so well. When one team wins so does the other, and vice versa.

The Mets and the Yankees have both had historic seasons for their respected franchises this year. Between big runs they have gone on, individual seasons for their players, and historic comebacks, tuning in every game has been a treat for both teams.

Even though the Mets and Yankees have both been historically good this season, the Mets are a better team.

Although the Yankees have arguably the best player in the sport this season in Aaron Judge, the Mets have the upper edge when it comes to team-based categories and statistics over the Yankees.

The Mets have what is likely the best 1-2 punch in baseball with Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer at the top of their rotation. The Yankees do have a strong rotation overall, but Gerrit Cole who is supposed to be their ace has been a little inconsistent given his expectations, Nestor Cortes has regressed a little following his hot start, and newly added Frankie Montas has gotten off to a rough start. The Mets rotation following Scherzer's return from the IL on July 5th has been lights out and the Mets have the upper hand even after losing Carlos Carrasco for a couple of weeks.

Both New York teams have had very strong bullpens despite a lot of Mets fans on Twitter thinking otherwise. The Mets bullpen has been towards the top of the league in virtually every category along with the Yankees, but the main difference that sets the Mets apart in my eyes is each team's closing pitcher. Clay Holmes was having a fantastic year before landing on the IL and Aroldis Chapman has not been his normal self. Meanwhile, Edwin Diaz is having a historic season for the Mets and could potentially get some Cy Young votes.

The lineups are where things are really interesting. In a day where the three true outcomes of the home run, strikeout, and walk are higher than they have ever been, the Yankees tend to do that more. The Yankees are first in the league in home runs and walks and in the bottom half of the league in strikeouts. The Mets are just barely in the bottom half of the league in home runs, in the top half of the league in walks, and one of the top teams in strikeouts. The Mets are also one of the top teams in batting average while the Yankees are in the bottom half. They are both towards the top in OBP and OPS though.

The Mets bat-to-ball hitting approach of hitting for more average and not being "all or nothing" has proven to be better this year and especially of late. The Yankees have been in the middle of a big slump lately with a lot of it being a cause of not scoring a lot of runs. When you rely on the home run for the majority of your runs and are not hitting them, things will not go well as seen by the Yankees the last month.

As a whole, both teams are strong and pretty even, but the Mets are built better in the long run. In recent postseasons the trend has seemed to be top-tier pitching and the ability to get on base consistently. The Mets rotation is better as a whole and with Diaz at the back of the bullpen, their pitching is elite. Match that up with their ability to grind out at-bats and hit for a high average, they are the stronger team overall.