The Mets, having had nearly their entire Opening Day lineup simultaneously on the IL at one point this season, currently hold an improbable 3.5 game lead in the NL East.
With as many as 17 players on the IL at one point this season, how has New York been able to not just stay afloat, but thrive in the division?
"We have more injuries and more people on the disabled list than I can remember with any team which I've been associated with," Mets team president Sandy Alderson told Chris Russo on MLB Network. "It's been crazy. Notwithstanding all those injuries, we've actually gotten quite a few contributions from those who were intended to be bench players or players that we've acquired."
The "Replace-Mets" have helped give the 2021 team an identity when the bulk of the team's familiar faces were down with injuries, from ace Jacob deGrom to slugging first baseman Pete Alonso. But the fill-ins from Billy McKinney to Mason Williams have helped weather the storm, and the Mets are slowly getting pieces back that were intended to be regular contributors this season.
"Within the clubhouse, I think that the addition of some new players, together with our holdovers, and given the circumstances over the last month with injuries and so forth, and Luis Rojas' influence as manager, has really brought the team together," Alderson said.
One of those new players is Francisco Lindor, who struggled mightily early in the season but has come alive of late, hitting .341 in his last 11 games. Lindor has heard mainly boos in his debut season with the Mets, but now, he has been a driving force in helping the team overcome an unprecedented wave of injuries.
"Short-term player performance is hard to predict," Alderson said. "Nobody performs on a straight line basis. It's up and down. It's unfortunate that when you go to a new team, having signed a big contract, that you start on a downward trend. But he's turned it around, and all the while, he's played great defense and he's been a real positive influence in the clubhouse…we knew he was gonna start hitting at some point, and that's happened, and he's been great for us."
A load of players remain on the IL, but the team hopes to have Jeff McNeil back sooner rather than later, with Michael Conforto followed close behind. Carlos Carrasco and Noah Syndergaard represent key pieces to the rotation that are currently experiencing injury setbacks, but once this Mets team gets back to full strength, given how they've performed shorthanded, it could become a special season.
"Having all of these guys back will almost be like another trade deadline acquisition," Alderson said.
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