The New York Yankees got some reasonably good news about their most consistent veteran starting pitcher Friday afternoon.
The New York Mets were not nearly as fortunate a few hours later.
The Mets will look to bounce back from their latest chunk of bad news Saturday night when they host the Yankees in the middle game of this season’s first Subway Series.
Right-hander Huascar Brazoban (2-1, 2.14 ERA) is slated to serve as an opener for the Mets before giving way to a bulk reliever, likely left-hander David Peterson (1-4, 5.49).
Left-hander Carlos Rodon (0-0, 6.23) is scheduled to start for the Yankees.
Right-hander Cam Schlittler continued his strong season Friday, when he allowed one run over 6 2/3 innings and earned the win in the Yankees’ 5-2 victory.
But the result was overshadowed in both locker rooms by Mets manager Carlos Mendoza’s stunning revelation that his team’s starting pitcher, Clay Holmes, suffered a broken right fibula when he was hit by Spencer Jones’ comebacker leading off the fourth inning.
Remarkably, Holmes got four more outs after being struck. He remained in the game after throwing a couple of warmup pitches and didn’t hesitate to head back out for the fifth, when he struck out Cody Bellinger and walked Jazz Chisholm Jr. before exiting.
Postgame X-rays revealed the break. Mendoza said Holmes is “going to be down for a long time.”
Holmes is 4-4 with a 2.39 ERA this season and 16-12 with a 3.26 ERA in 42 games (40 starts) since signing with the Mets in December 2024 following three-plus seasons with the Yankees, for whom he was a late-inning reliever and popular clubhouse presence.
“I hate to hear that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the injury. “Hopefully he’s able to get back at some point, because he’s obviously doing a great job for them.”
Holmes will become the seventh member of the Mets’ Opening Day roster to hit the injured list this season. A quartet of Opening Day starters — Francisco Alvarez (right knee), Francisco Lindor (left quad), Jorge Polanco (Achilles) and Luis Robert Jr. (back) — are out indefinitely for the Mets. The team entered the season with World Series aspirations and stands in last place in the National League East at 18-26.
“Every team’s going to deal with adversity,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got to keep going. Can’t put our heads down.”
Rodon, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow last October, will make his second start of the season at a pivotal time for the Yankees, who placed Max Fried on the injured list Friday with a bone bruise in his left elbow.
Fried is 4-3 on the season after a 19-5 record and 2.86 ERA in 2025 since signing with the Yankees as a free agent following the 2024 season. He said an MRI revealed his ulnar collateral ligament was intact.
Fried said he and the Yankees believe they are “looking at a little bit of an ambiguous timeline” for his return. But the Yankees, who have the second-best record in the American League at 28-17, have the luxury of taking their time.
Rodon and Schlittler — the latter of whom leads the major leagues with a 1.35 ERA — soon could be joined in the rotation by former Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole, who is nearing the end of his minor league rehab stint following Tommy John surgery in March 2025.
Brazoban last pitched Wednesday, when he tossed 2 1/3 hitless innings of relief in the Mets’ 3-2, 10-inning win over the Detroit Tigers. He is 1-0 with a 4.91 ERA in five career relief appearances against the Yankees.
Peterson served as the bulk reliever last Sunday, when he gave up three unearned runs over five innings in a 5-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks but didn’t figure into the decision. He is 0-0 with a 4.30 ERA in four games (three starts) against the Yankees.
Rodon didn’t factor into the decision in his season debut last Sunday after allowing three runs over 4 1/3 innings as the Yankees lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3. He is 3-1 with a 3.48 ERA in four starts against the Mets.
–Field Level Media
