Subway Series 2017 (The Score)

The latest edition of the Subway Series is over, and if you’re a Yankees fan, you should be pretty happy. If you’re a Mets fan, you should be glad they made it somewhat competitive. Both teams entered play this week on opposite sides of the coin. The Yankees are surprising many by contending this year while the Mets sink lower and lower down the bottomless pit. There is one thing these two teams can both agree on after this week: the future looks bright.

Both the Yankees and Mets are going through a transition period. The old guard is slowly fading while the new blood is starting to take over. You could see it on the field. While the Yankees swept the Mets, this Subway Series felt more competitive than ever before. Just like the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, this season has seen a revival of a somewhat classic feud between two brothers.

On the Mets side, you have a team who just recently traded major names in order to invest in the future. They may not even be done yet. To replace veteran talent, the team brought up top prospects Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith. The former shined with his defensive wizardly while also providing some power at the plate. After hitting a home run against the Phillies, he crushed one out of Yankee Stadium. The latter was looking to find the power he had in the minor leagues. Smith hit his first career home run at Yankee Stadium, and while it wasn’t the most impressive shot, it definitely got the monkey off of his back. Only a week into his major league career, Smith is still learning.

The Bronx Bombers had their own crew of youngsters who made an impact. Gary Sanchez hit three home run’s against The Amazins, collecting nine RBIs the entire series. If he was in a slump, this series seemed to have awoken The Kraken. In the outfield, Aaron Judge had good moments and bad moments. He hit two home runs against the Mets, and one of them, a 457-foot rocket, is still waiting to land.

There is one small concern, and that is Judge’s rate of strikeouts. He struck out seven times during the series, and has now struck out in 35 consecutive games. While he is going through some growing pains, he must learn to be patient, especially now that teams have a better understanding of who he is.

Other talent that shined were the new and improved Aaron Hicks, Luis Severino, AJ Ramos and Michael Conforto. While Conforto struggled this series, there is no doubt he has looked more confident at the plate recently. While talent like Curtis Granderson and Chase Headley are still getting at-bats (and still producing), the transition period to a brighter tomorrow is very noticeable.

The Subway Series was thriving with talent this year. Over the next few years we should see some more exciting moments thanks to these young bucks.