“…See ya!” One could hear this phrase endlessly echoed through their television screen as they witnessed history during the opening weekend of the 2025 Major League Baseball season. New York Yankees announcer Michael Kay had a busy series, repeating his signature call for the combined 15 home runs from eight different batters across three games against the Milwaukee Brewers.
At this time in the year, all the popular professional sports are played—besides football. To keep up with everything that is going on, here is a look at where the NY teams stand in their respective leagues and thoughts about the season so far and yet to come as of April 6.
Yankees (6-3, 1st in AL East)
If you couldn’t already tell from the introduction, the Bronx Bombers are blasting the ball at a blistering pace. In the three-game series against the Brewers they tallied 36 runs—the most since 1978. Another historic landmark they reached was the most home runs in the first three games of the season with 15 since the 2006 Detroit Tigers.
Aaron Judge is in the prime of his career and arguably one of the greatest right-handed hitters in MLB history. Typically, he gets off to a slow start to a new season, but this year was the opposite. Leading the league in home runs (6), runs-batted-in (17) and third for on-base-slugging (1.447), Judge is chasing another MVP award.
The Yankees appear to be an improved all-around team after losing Juan Soto to free agency. The injuries are fairly concerning in the long-run though, being without their ace Gerrit Cole, veterans Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu and younger starting pitchers Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil for lengthy stretches of the year.
The revolutionary ‘Torpedo’ bats are catching the league by storm, optimizing where hitters’ strike the ball while swinging. Nine of the 15 home runs came off the bats of Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt who all use the adaptive lumber.
The offensive firepower of the Yankees will lift them to the top of the league again come October where they could potentially have returning key players in another chance at bringing home a World Series title.
Mets (6-3, 2nd in NL East)
The 15-year, $765 million dollar off-season acquisition of Juan Soto caught the eyes of many, especially considering the outstanding year he had with the Yankees and what was thought to be a strong relationship in that clubhouse. Soto, along with two-way player Shohei Ohtani, established a new benchmark for contracts, so they’re expected to record ridiculous statistics.
The lefty bolstered the existing depth of batting for the Mets, but did not address the weakness around the starting rotation. Kodai Senga is recovering from a line of setbacks and breakout ace Sean Manaea is out for around a month. 23-year-old catcher Francisco Alvarez is also sidelined for a similar time period, preventing his further development as a star in the Mets uniform.
From all the ups and downs the Mets experienced, they turned a disappointing campaign into an unforgettable last year for the fans. Stringing together consecutive wins in the second half of the season where they finished 38-24 led them to the postseason and being the second best team in the league past July.
On the brink of defeat in the postseason, Pete Alonso came up clutch with a three-run homer to get his team past the Brewers in the wildcard series, the first series win since 2015 for the Mets.
After being re-signed in the offseason, Alonso has stepped up in The Big Apple, leading in batting average (.290), home runs (3), RBI (11) and OPS (1.066).
The Mets seem to be better overall—factoring in Soto and several bullpen additions—indicating a season with more stability rather than urgency to climb the standings before it gets too late.
Rangers (36-33-7, 4th in Metropolitan)
The Presidents’ Trophy curse is inevitable. There is not a clear answer as to what went wrong for the Rangers, but it’s obvious that they do not have the same grit and mentality that they had a season ago.
With practically the same roster coming into the season, expectations were high for the Blueshirts. Now, fighting for a wildcard spot is not the outcome fans envisioned. Despite the underwhelming season filled with blown leads, poor defense and fewer goals, they are still in the hunt for a spot in the playoffs.
Veterans Mika Zibanejad and Chris Krieder were mixed around throughout the season, hoping to generate a better offense across the four lines of attack. The pairings never seemed to be established, forcing further adjustments for the players to have to make.
Rangers fans were given glimpses of the No. 1 overall 2020 draft pick Alexis Lafrenière’s true talent in the postseason, but his production and confidence have diminished since. The only Blueshirt making a case for an underrated season is 23-year-old Toronto-native Will Cuylle who emerged as a top goal scorer on top of fulfilling his primary role as an enforcer.
Igor Shesterkin remains amongst the league’s best goaltenders despite his lackluster record—mainly due to poor defending. Artemi Panarin continues his dominance as a Ranger, leading the team in goals (34), assists (48) and points (82).
In what could be the final month of hockey for the Rangers, their resilience and strength will be tested throughout the difficult schedule ahead in order to clinch a playoff berth for the fourth straight year.
Another rebuild could be in store this offseason as signs earlier in the season indicated that it was time to move on from certain players. The focus right now is making the playoffs as it is in reach, but the Rangers need to rely on other teams as well to keep their hopes alive.
Islanders (34-32-10, 5th in the Metropolitan)
In a similar situation to the Rangers, the Islanders are in the race for the second wildcard spot to sneak into playoff contention. The prolonged absence of star Canadian forward Matt Barzal hindered the chemistry of the team, playing without their key facilitator.
Shipping off longtime Islander Brock Nelson signaled that the team is looking toward younger players to fill the lineup. One of those players is Swedish right-winger Simon Holmstrom who was called back up to the NHL in October 2024 and is excelling in the extended minutes he earned. He is fifth in goals (18) and eighth in assists (22) on the Islanders.
Captain Anders Lee has had an under the radar campaign recording the second highest points with 51 and 27 of those being goals for the most on the team. In 81 games last season, Lee only tallied 37 points (20 goals, 17 assists).
Following a brutal six game losing streak, the Isles chances of making the playoffs are getting slimmer. Five of the remaining six games are against division rivals, which they have struggled against all year.
The Islanders had a last season push last year to reach the postseason, but currently it is looking like they are going to need a miracle in order to punch their ticket for the third consecutive season.
Knicks (50-28, 3rd in Eastern Conference)
The blockbuster off-season trade sending forward Julius Randle and guard Donte DiVincenzo to the Minnesota Timberwolves in return for four-time All-star Karl-Anthony Towns signaled that the Knicks were going ‘all in’ to bring a championship back to NY.
Now with the playoffs approaching, it is evident that it has turned out better for the Knicks as they clinched a playoff berth for the third straight year.
Succeeding decades of misery for loyal fans, the Knicks are back to being a top team in the league. However, amongst the powerhouses (top three in either conference), they are 0-7.
The Villanova alumni, guards Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart along with forward Mikal Bridges were reunited, taking the depth of the team to another level. The Nets forward was the final piece of the puzzle, but DiVincenzo was shipped off to the West.
Brunson is seventh in the NBA in scoring and eighth in assists, averaging 26.1 points and 7.4 assists per game. Towns is 13th in scoring with 24.3 points per game and second in rebounds with 12.8 per game. The veteran set a historic NBA record, tallying a double-double and at least one three-pointer in 18 straight games.
Spreading the wealth has been the common theme of the season as the Knicks have several weapons that can take over any game. Forward OG Anunoby embraced the occasions when Brunson and Towns were out with injuries, averaging 22.4 points in the total of 11 games and 29.3 points in a stretch of four of them.
Come playoff time, the Knicks are a primary contender out of the East. The concern of defeating fellow contenders could be erased if they can get hot and ride with momentum early on. Although the team has adjusted to head coach Tom Thibodeau’s time management, he needs to be cautious in the postseason and rotate his players in order to prevent the injuries that have annually set them back.
Liberty
On Oct. 21, the Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx 67-62 to capture their first ever Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) championship title. The team finished at the top of the conference and league with an impressive 32-8 record and averaged the second most points per game as a team with 85.6.
Forward Breanna Stewart and guard Sabrina Ionescu facilitated the floor, becoming offensive outlets that were dominant across the league. Stewart tied for fourth in overall average points per game with 20.4 and Ionescu finished ninth with 18.2.
The versatile guard added on average 6.2 assists and 2.8 three-pointers per game as well, bolstering her profound profile. The two-time WNBA MVP in Stewart resigned in March, hoping to spend her career closer to home.
After guard Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was announced to be sidelined for five to six months following a knee surgery, the priority in the off-season was finding a replacement, which they got. The Liberty sent two first-round picks in return for Connecticut Sun’s Natasha Cloud.
The reigning WNBA champions are positioned for another successful season—starting in May—given the mix of veteran and young presence that have been exposed to the winning culture and adapted to the style of play of the team.
Red Bulls (3-2-2, 8th in Eastern Conference)
The Eastern Conference’s seventh-seed entered the 2024 Major League Soccer Cup playoffs with belief in the group they had. Whether or not the fans put all their faith in them, they were not going to let doubt get in the way of the ultimate goal of lifting the trophy for the first time.
The Red Bulls came up short in the final against LA Galaxy by a score of 2-1, a major milestone for the rebuilt roster. This was only the second appearance in an MLS Cup final match in franchise history.
Chatham, New Jersey native John Tolkin developed in the academy program and played in four professional seasons. After over a decade with the club, the USMNT defender is going to spend the next chapter of his career in Europe for a greater challenge.
Looking into the lens of the 2025 campaign, the Red Bulls are hoping to build off the unexpected postseason push and finish higher in the standings amidst a tightly competitive conference.
Swedish midfielder Emil Forsberg agreed to a contract in December of 2023 and was named captain a few months later. He deposited ten goals in 24 matches in the MLS in 2024. Forsberg already has three in the first seven matches of the season.
Starting goalkeeper Carlos Coronel has made stellar saves and can keep the team in any game. He is immune to pressure, especially in penalty-shot situations where his outstanding talent is on display.
The Red Bulls consistently find themselves in patches during the season where they are winning consecutive matches and others where it is difficult to score a goal. It is still early in the season, but it is predicted that they will replicate a similar previous year and make the postseason again given the strength of their recently established roster.
City FC (2-2-3, 11th in Eastern Conference)
The Boys in Blue have had hard-fought contests to start the season. The even record demonstrates their ability to win games and the haunting trend of surrendering leads and dropping points.
NYCFC placed in the upper half of the Eastern Conference a campaign ago, just above Red Bulls. The two teams faced one another in the Eastern Conference Final of the postseason where Red Bulls blanked City FC 2-0.
26-year-old striker Alonso Martínez has been in top form for the club, slotting four goals in six starts with 16 total shots to pressure goalkeepers. The forward had a breakout year with 16 goals in 19 starts in 2024, earning his role on the team.
American keeper Matthew Freese helped preserve a streak of three matches being unbeaten in March with a five-save performance against Columbus Crew. In six starts, the 6’3” USMNT player made 23 saves and has two clean sheets.
NYCFC are currently sitting two places outside of a playoff spot, but are expected to return again despite not making significant transfers in the winter.
