For the first time since June 10, the New York Mets will not play a baseball game on Thursday. The Mets played 15 games in those 13 days between breaks, including a doubleheader both on the road and at home. A third doubleheader is slated for Friday at Citi Field, but the Mets have a day where everyone can take a breath and evaluate what the last two weeks have been.

The next time the Mets have an off day on the schedule, it will be the break for the All-Star game. So using this day without a game to evaluate, what has changed with the Mets over the last two weeks?

The good

As good of a reason as ever to remind Mets fans of this one fact: the Mets began this stretch with a lead in the National League East and they end it just the same. Wednesday’s win over Atlanta meant the Mets went 8-7 during that 15 game stretch and the 3.5 game lead in the division grew to four whole games. So, the Mets played .500 baseball for two weeks. So did the rest of the division.

According to Baseball-Reference, the Mets have a 52.1 percent chance of winning their division at the moment. Only the Chicago Cubs have better odds among teams in the National League right now. 

Good pitching remains with the Mets, to the tune of a 3.11 team earned run average. The Mets are a hair behind the San Diego Padres for the best team ERA in baseball, even with the occasional bad night. Jacob Barnes had a bad night and he got traded. Most of the other bad nights have resulted from precautions to the team’s biggest pitching arms. Short outings from the likes of Jacob deGrom and Marcus Stroman have taxed the bullpen immensely, but the team has rarely skipped a beat on the mound.

Analysis: Jacob deGrom and NY Mets starters are dominating in 2021

Opponents are not getting on base the easy way or scoring runs the hard way. What does that mean? Well, the Mets are both second in MLB in the fewest walks allowed and have surrendered the second-fewest home runs to opponents through more than 40 percent of their schedule.

The bad

The most recent game of offensive output aside, the Mets are still not an offense that has not been able to provide runs consistently. Over the last two weeks, the Mets have a team batting average just over the Mendoza line and are tied for the third-worst team average in the league during that span. 

The Mets remain the lowest-scoring team in the National League, scoring only 44 runs in the span of the last two weeks. The Mets also remain last in the NL in hits and have struck out more times than any other team in their half of the league.

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Any hiccup from the pitching staff gets amplified when the offense does not produce and being shut out in four of their last nine games can be telling. As the injuries begin to impact the pitching staff and hitters are getting healed, the bats will be needed to pick up the slack in the meantime. And speaking of those injuries…

The injuries

There’s so much involved with injuries that it deserves its own area to be broken down. Injuries are nothing new for the Mets, especially in 2021. Yet, where the team was looking to bounce back from all those early injuries, more popped back up. 

In total, more than 30 different transactions have been done by the team from June 10 until Thursday that directly impacted the big league club.

Tracker: NY Mets injuries: Tracking when the players might return to the field

Seven players were called up from the minor leagues to fill in a void on the team, including Wednesday’s call ups of Corey Oswalt and Tylor Megill. Sean Reid-Foley and Yennsy Diaz were also among the call-ups in that span and both were optioned back to Syracuse this week.

Fortunately, four Mets returned during this string of games: Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, Albert Almora Jr. and Luis Guillorme all played Wednesday after recent returns from the injured list.

Updates: Mets feel fortunate after clean MRIs on Stroman, Villar

The problem: four other Mets went on the IL in the same span. Tomas Nido had a clean MRI but still has issues from being hit in the wrist earlier this week. The bullpen will be without Jeurys Familia and Robert Gsellman for extended periods of time. The biggest blow has to be Joey Lucchesi, who was on a roll in the rotation before a tear to his UCL and Tommy John surgery.

Looking ahead

The Mets have 18 games to play before the All-Star break, including Friday’s doubleheader with the Phillies. The Mets are halfway through a 16-game run against divisional opponents. The Mets are 3-5 in those first eight games, so a bounceback in the next week could strengthen that lead in the East. Series with the Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers will test this team, but ending the first half against the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates should provide good vibes for the team heading into the break.

The Mets may also be looking different in the coming weeks. They’ll hope to get healthier as both Brandon Nimmo and Dellin Betances are in Syracuse on rehab stints. Also, the trade deadline is approaching with a little more than five weeks remaining. As important as this last two weeks were for the Mets, the next two weeks may be even more crucial for the team’s success.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @robertaitkenjr 

Source: Asbury Park

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