There will be 14 combined All-Star Games on the Citi Field mound Wednesday night.
Baseball does not get much better than Gerrit Cole-Justin Verlander.
The two aces and former Astros teammates will face off in a game that will have real stakes for both clubs — the Yankees and Mets without other superstars and struggling — and will feature an eye-opening pitching matchup.
“I’m sure there will be [an extra buzz]. Probably rightfully so,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before the Subway Series began Tuesday. “In Justin’s case, already headed to the Hall of Fame and Gerrit, a guy that I feel like is in the middle of a Hall of Fame career. I’m sure there will be a little extra buzz around that.”
Cole and Verlander have squared off just once, in June 2015, when Cole’s Pirates beat Verlander’s Tigers.
A lot has happened since, including the two uniting in Houston in 2018 and 2019.
The Astros lost to the Red Sox in the 2018 ALCS and fell to the Nationals in the 2019 World Series.
The younger Cole then signed with the Yankees for $324 million ahead of the 2020 season. Verlander required Tommy John surgery that year and returned to win a Cy Young with the Astros in 2022.
The Mets signed Verlander to an $86.6 million pact this offseason, and the 40-year-old has yet to truly look like himself. Verlander’s campaign began on the injured list with a low grade teres major strain, and the righty has been inconsistent in seven starts since.
Verlander, coming off a rough start in Atlanta in which he only recorded nine outs, will enter Wednesday with a 4.85 ERA.
Cole, who was unhittable in April, struggled in May and has bounced back in June, carries a 2.84 ERA after 14 starts, 11 of which have been Yankees victories.
“One of the good things about a [Yankees-Mets] matchup like this is you get some marquee things like that that are possibilities,” Boone said. “I’m sure that’ll add a little extra to it.”
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