Laura Albanese

New York

Sports Reporter and Writer at Newsday

Lover of underdogs. If you can't win, don't play. Sportswriter @Newsday + IG @laurawritesstuff

Articles

Albanese: Mets have identified, optimized their young talent

4 days ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

It must've been pretty tempting to look across the way to the visitor’s dugout Saturday and focus on the blue-haired dynamo that’s making his home in Chicago. That, of course, would be Pete Crow-Armstrong, better known around these parts as the first-round draft pick the Mets shipped off to Wrigley for half a season of Javier Baez and little less than two years of Trevor Williams.
Yankees' Trent Grisham is making his name known

6 days ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

Imagine it’s spring training, and you, like every other reasonable Yankee fan, are spending your free time analyzing the team’s outfield depth. There’s Aaron Judge, obviously, Cody Bellinger, Jasson Dominguez and all his promise, and Giancarlo Stanton sometimes…and Trent Grisham. Maybe it takes you a few seconds to come up with that last name (not too long, though – you are, after all, the type of fan who’s analyzing the Yankees' outfield depth in late February). Fast forward three months.
Yankees' Max Fried fuses talent, hard work into a groove that's tough to beat

1 week ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

Max Fried warms up to “Work” by Gang Starr. It’s an ode to the grind, and the lyrics somehow manage to be both humble and brash, with the ‘90s hip-hop duo extolling the virtues of perseverance, while also unflinchingly declaring that, “victory is mine, yeah, surprisingly.”If you take Fried at face value — rail thin and mild-mannered — it seems like an off-beat choice, but in a lot of ways, it’s a perfect encapsulation of the pitcher who walked into New York and instantly made it his own.
Yankees' Max Fried, Devin Williams and Luke Weaver throw one-hitter

1 week ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

It wasn’t exactly the bruising tandem Yankees fans expected in the offseason, back in that other lifetime known as the Juan Soto sweepstakes. But you’ve got to admit that it has worked out as well as anyone could have hoped, especially on nights like Friday’s 3-0 win over the Rays at Yankee Stadium. There is Aaron Judge, of course, who currently leads all of baseball with a .430 batting average. And then there’s the man right below him in that statistical category, slotting in at .361.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. goes on IL with high-grade oblique strain

1 week ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

Even Jazz Chisholm Jr. was surprised to hear how bad it was. Three days after saying he wasn’t overly concerned about the flank injury he suffered in Tuesday's game against the Orioles, Chisholm was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Wednesday with a high-grade right oblique strain, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Friday. The timeline for similar injuries is four to six weeks.
Three takeaways from Mets' series vs. D-backs

1 week ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

On Thursday, the Mets did two things they haven’t done in over eight months: They lost on back-to-back days at home for the first time since July, and lost a regular-season home series for the first time since August. Their 21-11 record, though, means that things are still not all bad. Here are three takeaways from the 2-1 series loss to the Diamondbacks:1. The bullpen is in trouble.
Juan Soto hits first two homers as a Met at Citi Field in loss to Diamondbacks

1 week ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

The Mets have thrived at home this year, save maybe for Juan Soto, who came into the day not having homered at Citi Field. Both of those things changed Thursday. Soto hit not one, but two home runs, but Zac Gallen silenced the offense, and the Diamondbacks' bullpen thwarted a late-inning comeback as the Mets fell, 4-2 at Citi Field. Wednesday and Thursday marked their first consecutive losses at home this season and their first losses at home on back-to-back days since July 2024.
Mets' Pete Alonso has been the glue in their model season

2 weeks ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

Among the 21 wins the Mets have compiled in this young season, there was the one on April 18, when they came from behind against the Cardinals to eventually win on Francisco Lindor’s first walk-off home run as a Met. Lindor talked up his teammates in general then, but noted one thing in particular. “Pete is one of the guys that, I think he might be one of the most optimistic guys that we have,” he said, referencing Pete Alonso. “He kept on saying, ‘We’re going to win.
Albanese: Brandon Sproat should get shot with Mets

2 weeks ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

Mets pitching prospect Brandon Sproat had just pitched six scoreless innings for Triple-A Syracuse, his fastball hitting 99 mph, when he told reporters that whenever the Mets needed him, he’d be ready. That was a little less than two weeks ago, and, well…plenty has happened to the Mets in that span. Despite the cushy 20-9 record they took into Tuesday’s contest against the Diamondbacks, the rigors of the baseball season spare no team, the Mets included.
Devin Williams might be best served by temporarily changing roles

2 weeks ago | newsday.com | Laura Albanese

Devin Williams stood in front of reporters after his blown save Friday night with the air of defeat still clinging to his pores. His eyes were glassy, his voice low, his demeanor downcast, all while being asked to answer what, for him, currently is an unanswerable question. Why? We’ve seen this play out before. A player who once had it suddenly doesn’t, and everyone wants to know what happened. This is mostly a product of frustrated fans who are promised one version of an athlete and get another.