As the Yankees took batting practice prior to Monday’s Game 1 of the ALCS, Luis Rojas said he checked his phone in time to see Mark Vientos’ grand slam in NLCS Game 2 against the Dodgers.
His focus remains in The Bronx, where the former Mets manager is the third base coach. But Rojas spent his entire 11-year coaching career with that Mets organization before coming to the Yankees after he was fired as manager following the 2021 season.
No one on the field has more connections with both teams than Rojas.
“I have people over there I love and consider family,” Rojas said. “I wish them the best and am rooting for them. If they get to the World Series and we get there, it will be special.”
And he knows how close it is, with both teams now three wins away from a World Series berth after the Yankees’ 5-2 win over the Guardians in Game 1 on Monday and the Mets’ 7-3 triumph over the Dodgers.
“Now there’s only two games going on, so you can pay more attention,’’ Rojas said. “You look at every game. I’m excited for them and at this point, you can kind of think of ‘What if?’ We’re both on missions to take care of two really good teams we’ve got to play.”
Rojas coached or managed many of the main characters in the Mets’ crazy run deep into October — some in the majors and others in the minors.
He said he’s not in touch with any of the players, but rattled off the ones he was rooting for, including Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo.
And he made a point of praising Carlos Mendoza, who has gotten the Mets this far in his first year as manager after the two served on the Yankees coaching staff each of the previous two years.
“Carlos and I have a great friendship,” Rojas said. “I don’t talk to him during a series, but I text with him whenever they move on. I’m rooting for him.”
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Just as he is the rest of the team, a team Rojas said he was impressed with when the Yankees faced the Mets for a pair of series earlier in the season.
“With the way they started this year, it was tough to see them get to this point,” Rojas said of the Mets’ rough opening week and terrible May. “But when we played them in both Subway Series, you could see how deep their lineup was and they were pitching better than their numbers showed. And Carlos has done a good job managing the bullpen. They deserve to be where they are.”