There is excellence and there is Yankees excellence. 

And for a pitcher to receive The Bronx version of distinction, there are boxes to check. Postseason. Fenway Park. Subway Series. 

And here is Cam Schlittler, still not a calendar year into his major league career, having checked them all. And now working further on this one — young ace stepping up while those from the veteran category mend from injury. 

Schlittler has been so good — historically brilliant, by the way — that even at rotation full health (if the Yankees ever get there), you have to think he would be the top choice to get the ball to, say, open a playoff series. Of course, that is a long way from here. But we also are creating more and more distance from July 9, 2025. 

That was Schlittler’s major league debut. His ERA in 24 regular-season starts is 2.23. Earned runs became an official statistic in 1912. Since then, the only Yankee to have a better ERA through their first 24 career regular-season starts was the 2.14 of Herb Thormahlen in 1917, which was still the Dead Ball Era. 

The ball is very much alive these days — but so are all three versions of Schlittler’s fastball. 

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The last time the Mets beat a winning team, it wasn’t this month. Nor was it even last month. 

No sir, we have to go all the way back to March 30 to find such a worthy victory. When the Mets prevailed over the upstart Cardinals in that late-March matchup, all was right in Queens. That seems like a lifetime ago. 

When the Mets won that day, they were 3-1, with all three wins coming against teams that have surprised us from the surprising NL Central. Since that day, the Mets are 0-12 vs. winning teams, including the 5-2 defeat Friday night to the Yankees in the Subway Series opener at a surprisingly sedate Citi Field. Yes, that’s right, that’s zero wins and 12 defeats vs. winning teams in their last 12. 

I hate to be blunt, but this isn’t a very good Mets team. And unfortunately, it’s a very unlucky one too. 

The Mets will be without their best pitcher, Clay Holmes, for several weeks, as he suffered a fractured right fibula in defeat. Holmes actually stayed in the game another inning after Spencer Jones’ liner struck him. So they lose one of their toughest players too. 

It’s been that kind of season. 

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Heroes, zeros and the inside pitch from the Yankees’ 5-2 win over the Mets on Friday night in the Subway Series in Queens:

Hero

Cam Schlittler’s Subway Series debut was impressive — as has just about everything else the right-hander has done since being called up last season.

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The Mets have another injury to worry about.

Pitcher Clay Holmes suffered a fractured fibula during the team’s 5-2 loss to the Yankees on Friday night, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.

Mendoza said Holmes will be out a “long time.”

“It’s a huge blow,” Mendoza said. “He’s been one of the most consistent guys that we had in that rotation.”

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