New York aces: Fried, Senga on pace to make NYC baseball history
The Mets and Yankees have been the joint custodians of New York City’s rich baseball heritage for more than half a century.
The Yanks have been around since 1903. The Mets began play 63 years ago after the departure of the Dodgers and Giants, who moved to California in 1958.
In all the time the Mets and Yankees have coexisted as borough brethren in the Big Apple, only once have the two ERA leaders both been from New York -- in 1978, Ron Guidry (Yankees) had an MLB-best 1.74 ERA and Craig Swan (Mets) topped the NL with a 2.43 mark.
Something that’s never happened in a full season? The Mets and Yankees each having a qualified starting pitcher finish with an ERA+ of 150 or greater.
That could very well change this year.
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The Yankees’ Max Fried and the Mets’ Kodai Senga are each nearly halfway through the 2025 campaign -- Fried has made 14 starts following another gem on Tuesday against the Royals, and Senga is slated to make his 13th start on Thursday against the Nationals. Each owns an ERA well below 2.00 (1.84 for Fried, 1.59 for Senga).
Fried’s ERA+ going into Tuesday’s start was 225. Senga’s ERA+ heading into his next start on Thursday is 238.
Full seasons in which a qualified pitcher for the Yankees and Mets each finished with an ERA+ of:
140 or better
2023: Gerrit Cole (165) for NYY, Kodai Senga (140) for NYM
2016: Masahiro Tanaka (140) for NYY, Noah Syndergaard (155) for NYM
1997: David Cone (159) and Andy Pettitte (156) for NYY, Rick Reed (141) for NYM
1978: Ron Guidry (208) for NYY, Craig Swan (143) for NYM
1975: Catfish Hunter (144) for NYY, Tom Seaver (146) for NYM
1968: Stan Bahnsen (140) for NYY, Jerry Koosman (145) for NYM
150 or better
None*
*Cole (151) and deGrom (180) each had an ERA+ of over 150 in 2020, but that was a 60-game season
Fried has been utterly dominant. He possesses the second-best fastball among qualified MLB starters, according to run value (14). And his assortment of secondary offerings keeps opposing hitters in a state of flux.
“He’s arguably been the best pitcher in the game to this point,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after a recent start in which Fried yielded just one run over 7 1/3 innings at hitter-friendly Coors Field. "I think what really stands out is just the many ways he can beat you on the mound.
“It’s a big arsenal. Fastball, two-seamer, cutter, he’ll slow you down with the breaking ball, changeup or sweeper. [Then there’s] his athleticism on the mound, his ability to field his position, his ability to control the running game. He’s just been tremendous.”
If you ask Fried what the key has been to his success, he needs just one word: “execution.”
Senga, meanwhile, has been lights out for the Mets. If you ask him what his key has been … well, he might ask you what you think.
“I still don’t know,” Senga said through an interpreter after tossing six innings and giving up one run at Coors Field against the Rockies six days after Fried’s outing there.
He may not know, but the numbers paint a pretty clear picture. If Fried needs just a single word to pinpoint what’s been central to his success so far in 2025 -- “execution” -- Senga should only need two: “ghost fork.”
As in: the devastating forkball that simply disappears when opponents have the misfortune of trying to hit it. So far this season, batters are hitting just .118 and slugging just .183 against the pitch. Senga has generated a 41.6% whiff rate with it.
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When asked what he thought about potentially making NYC baseball history with Fried, his answer underscored his respect for the Yankees’ southpaw.
“Max Fried is an incredible pitcher,” Senga said. “He has a lengthy, successful career track record. So to hear that his ERA is below 2.00, it doesn’t really surprise me. That’s just the type of pitcher he is. And for myself, I just hope to somehow cling onto what he might be doing, and continue to work at what I need to do.”
Being in Fried’s company is certainly impressive. But so is being in Senga’s. In fact, if the two New York aces keep doing what they’re doing, they could establish a new club all their own.