Mets vs. Yankees: Who has edge in latest Subway Series matchup?

When the schedule makers came up with this year’s second installment of the Subway Series, they no doubt had Friday’s commemoration of the 9/11 attacks in mind but also a matchup of two New York teams expected to be at least in the hunt for the postseason.Instead, the Mets’ playoff chances were pretty much done in by a 12-game losing streak in April. However, they have played better of late and could impact the Yankees’ path to October.

The Yankees, though, got a much-needed boost from the return of Aaron Judge this week. Here’s a look at how the teams match up heading into Friday’s series opener in The Bronx. The Mets are a much different team since they were sellers at the Aug.3 trade deadline, and they’ve defied expectations by improving in a handful of areas, including this one.

In addition to Bo Bichette looking more like himself, the Mets have gotten contributions from Carson Benge and Brett Baty, as well as unlikely sources such as Jared Young and Luis Torrens.Now, they have a healthy Juan Soto — although Baty is dealing with a potential knee injury.

The continued struggles of Francisco Lindor, A.J.Ewing and Francisco Alvarez have limited the offense.

Meanwhile, the Yankees have been inconsistent in virtually every aspect of their offense since Judge went down with a fractured rib at the end of May.He’s just come off the injured list, but the Yankees hope his presence will help the likes of Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger and that deadline acquisitions Luis García Jr.

and Heliot Ramos find their groove at the plate, since the team had the worst on-base percentage in the majors without its captain.Losing Jazz Chisholm Jr.

to a sprained thumb hurts because the second baseman was hitting well over the last two weeks after slumping for much of the season. Edge: Yankees Somehow, since the trade deadline the Mets entered Wednesday with the second-highest slugging percentage in the majors.Perhaps the slugging of Baty, Bichette and Soto wil...