YANKEES AND METS: WHO REIGNS SUPREME, SEASON AWARDS THUS FAR

YANKEES AND METS: WHO REIGNS SUPREME, SEASON AWARDS THUS FAR

By: Matthew Blittner

As the current Major League Baseball Season reaches the traditional bench mark of Memorial Day Weekend, let's examine just who "owns" the City of New York, the Yankees or the Mets?

And to spice up the debate, I will also provide my take on several awards for the two teams at this point in the season.

MVP (MOST VALUABLE PLAYER)

YANKEES: AARON JUDGE. No surprise here. The, "Judge Man," as he has affectionately been dubbed by the Pinstriped Faithful, is currently raking at a historic rate. With 15 home runs through play on Friday night May 26th, Judge is tied with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's Mike Trout and the Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper (Harper blasted his 15th of the season on Friday night against the Padres as part of the Nats 5-1 win at Nationals Ball Park.) To go along with his 15 homers, Judge has a .315/.420/.678 triple-slash line, 36 runs scored, 30 RBIs and a 1.098 OPS. Each has him placed firmly in the top-20 of the MLB.  As evidence of his growing stature in the game, the Yankees recently dedicated a portion of their fabled bleacher seats in his honer, re-naming the section as the "Judge's Chambers."

METS: MICHAEL CONFORTO. The man who couldn't crack the everyday lineup consistently until April 20th, now has a .336/.429/.693 triple-slash line, 35 runs scored, 13 home runs, 32 RBIs and a 1.123 OPS. Those stats have made him a permanent fixture in the lineup and place him in the top-20 of all of baseball.

LVP (LEAST VALUABLE PLAYER)

YANKEES: GREG BIRD. Currently on the 10-Day DL with an ankle injury, the yankees young starting first baseman has been limited to a mere 19 games after missing all of last season thanks to shoulder surgery. With 22 strikeouts and a .100/.250/.200 triple-slash line and .450 OPS, it's safe to say, the Yankees did not see this coming, especially not after his tremendous Spring Training that saw Bird finish tied for the league-lead in home runs.

METS: CURTIS GRANDERSON. With a .173/.246/.340 triple-slash line, to go along with four home runs, 17 RBIs, 37 strikeouts, and a .586 OPS in 44 games, Granderson has been a massive disappoint this season. After a strong 2016 campaign, this was not what the Mets thought they would be getting out of him. It's only a matter of time before they have no choice but to bench him.

At 27-18 after losing 4-1 to the Athletics on Friday night May 26th at Yankee Stadium, the Yanks still maintain control of first place in the AL East.

Meanwhile, the cross-town Mets, sit at 20-26 after drubbing the Pirates 8-1 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Friday night.

Coming into the season, nobody expected the Yankees to be in first place at this point in the season, while the Mets were supposed to be challenging the Nationals for supremacy in the NL East.

The Mets have suffered through more drama then at any point since the dysfunctional 1980s Mets, thanks to a very public showdown with two of their prized young pitchers, Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard. 

Harvey was suspended for three games, curtesy of his being out late drinking the night before a scheduled start. Meanwhile, the man nicknamed "Thor," refused to go for an MRI after admitting that he felt pain in his arm, only to pitch the next day and had to be removed due to having a partial tear of his right lat muscle, an injury that will keep him out until August in all likely hood. 

On the other hand, the Yankees have seen the fruits of their rebuild begin to blossom ahead of schedule as Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, and Luis Severino to name a few, have continued to have strong starts to their young careers as they look to build their own version of the "Core Four."

Memorial Day is the first benchmark for major league teams during the marathon season, and right now, it looks like this is still a Yankees' town.