3 UP

1. Mets Hit Well At Citi

As noted by MMO‘s Mathew Brownstein, Michael Conforto has reached base safely in 27 straight home games. That ties him with David Wright for the longest in Citi Field history, and it is the longest streak for any Met at home since Carlos Delgado reached safely in 29 straight games from June 20 – August 28, 2006.

Part of Conforto’s streak included a homer. That homer extended the Mets streak of games at home to 17 straight. That streak became 19 when Pete Alonso nearly pulled off a Tommie Agee hitting one up to the third deck.

Generally speaking, this team has hit very well at home – case in point is J.D. Davis. At home, he is a .347/.424/.587 hitter as opposed to the .221/.267/.389 hitter he is on the road.

Overall, the Mets have a 117 wRC+ at home, which is the fourth best mark in the majors and second best mark in the National League. Seeing that, we know this team can hit. This team just needs to find a way to take what they do so well at home and do it on the road. If they can, there is a run coming.

2. Game Saving Play

The previous night, Edwin Diaz blew the save. The following day, he and the Mets lost that suspended game on yet another big hit by Paul DeJong, who is apparently Barry Bonds when he plays the Mets. Later that day, Jeurys Familia blew the game. Things looked like it was going to happen again on Saturday as Diaz was having another meltdown.

The 8-6 lead had already shrunk to 8-7 when Kolten Wong dropped a double between the sliding Michael Conforto and sprinting Jeff McNeil. Jack Flaherty sought to take advantage of the confusion and out of place players by trying to score from first. Instead of it being the tie game nearly everyone expected it to be, McNeil reacted quickly, and he delivered a strike home getting Flaherty out by a mile.

Overall, this series was not what the Mets hoped it would be. Still, there were glimmers here and there that this team could actually still compete. Nothing stood more as a testament to this team’s competitiveness and fight than that play from McNeil. It was game and potentially season saving.

3. This June Already Better Than Last

Things have not gone well at all this season. It is somewhat reminiscent of last year when the Mets nosedived in June. In that month, the Mets were a confounding 5-21. That killed any chance of a postseason berth, and it eventually led to the front office overhaul.

This year, the Mets have already surpassed last June’s win total. So far, they are 6-8, which at least seems better than what you might’ve expected. It also seems tiresome to say this, but the Mets are still alive in the postseason races. They are still just five games back to the Wild Card, and they are 7.5 back in the division.

If you look at the schedule, the Mets still do hold their own fate in their hands. That is a good thing, or at least, it should be.

3 DOWN

1. Complete Lack of Starting Pitching Depth

On back-to-back days, the Mets had Noah Syndergaard and Jason Vargas go down with injuries. Syndergaard went right to the disabled list, and Vargas may avoid it. While you may have a sense of relief over Vargas, the question is now how do you replace Syndergaard?

The last time this was an issue the team made a panic trade to obtain Wilmer Font, who is not a starter and who is now fighting for innings out of the bullpen. Chris Flexen is now a reliever. Hector Santiago was designated for assignment. Corey Oswalt is on the IL. That leaves Ervin Santana, who has not pitched well in two years, or Walker Lockett, who has not had any success at the Major League level.

You could say the Mets could bullpen that fifth game, but the bullpen isn’t even in a position where you can trust anyone not named Seth Lugo right now.

Really, when you break it down, the Mets have lost one of their best pitchers at a critical juncture of the season, and because they failed to add real starting pitching depth during the offseason, they are in an extremely precarious position.

2. Center Field Dilemma

Due to a combination of factors including a being a half step short and the team’s poor positioning of it’s fielders, Juan Lagares is nowhere near the Gold Glove caliber player he once was. If he’s not fielding near that level, he’s not hitting anywhere near well enough to play everyday.

Carlos Gomez has some big hits, but with a 76 wRC+ and a -2 DRS, the Mets cannot continue to play him everyday in center field.

The hopes that Brandon Nimmo could return to resolve the situation seems all the more remote by the day. After playing through his neck injury, he began a rehab assignment before the injury fully healed, and now, he is seeing the same specialist David Wright saw to treat his stenosis. Who knows when Nimmo will be able to return?

That leaves the Mets debating between McNeil and Conforto. There’s irony there as last year the Mets swore McNeil was only a second baseman, and this year, the team was steadfast in saying Conforto would only play right field. Adding to it all, the plan would permit the Mets to install Dominic Smith as the team’s left fielder after spending most of this year insisting Smith would only be a first baseman.

Ultimately, the Mets were forced to adapt here because the team did not sufficient center field depth entering the season, and what little depth they had has gone away due to a mixture of poor performances and injuries. The hope here is McNeil is up to the task like he has been up to everything else the Mets have thrown his way this year.

3. The Rain Delay

The Mets were heading into the bottom of the ninth with a two run lead, Edwin Diaz taking the mound, and on the verge of going to .500. There was a small rain delay, and Diaz appeared to struggle through the rain. Instead, of a .500 Mets team ready to take off, we saw a vulnerable and bad bullpen blow another one.

For some reason it just seems that one game knocked the Mets back. They seemed on the verge of putting something together. Instead, it has fallen apart again.

Four years ago, we saw a similar happenstance be the turning point of the Mets season. When Jeurys Familia blew that game against the Padres, the Mets obtained Yoenis Cespedes, they got healthy, and they took advantage of an easy schedule to win the division and go to the World Series.

Well, Familia blew another game for the Mets. Cespedes is definitely not walking through the door. The schedule isn’t getting an easier. About the only thing that remains true is the Mets have the games ahead of them to make up the difference. We’ll see if this year’s team is up to the task.