Ahead of a huge three game set against the St. Louis Cardinals, the 61-61 New York Mets are at .500 and are 4.5 games back of the Cardinals for the second Wild Card spot.  Even with a good series here, nothing is guaranteed as the Mets are one of four teams currently withing five games of the last Wild Card spot.  Here is where they all stand:

St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals are currently the second Wild Card with a 66-57 record.  The team is hot having gone 7-3 in their last 10 games.  The Cardinals hot streak is surprising given the fact that they are without Matt Adams, Aledmys Diaz, Matt Holliday, Michael Wacha, Seth Maness, and Trevor Rosenthal.  The current Cardinals streak is a testament to their depth, resiliency, and the managing ability of Mike Matheny.  Either that or it is a random hot streak, and the Mets are in prime position to take them down.

Miami Marlins

The Marlins are at 65-59 and are 1.5 games back of the Cardinals.  Over their last 10 games, the Marlins are playing .500 ball.  Worse yet for the team, they are starting to deal with some major injury problems.  The team is most likely without Giancarlo Stanton and Wei-Yin Chen for the rest of the season.  The team is currently without Adam Conley, and they have the prospect of having to shut down Jose Fernandez at some point in the season.  Andrew Cashner was supposed to help alleviate some of these issues, but he has remained the same pitcher he was with the Padres.  Offensively, first baseman Justin Bour has been on the disabled list for quite a while, but no one quite knows when he will return.

Over the course of the season, the Marlins have been a pleasant surprise (if you’re not a Mets fan).  Ichiro Suzuki seems rejuvenated and got his 3,000 hit.  Don Mattingly and Barry Bonds have changed the culture while helping young players like Christian Yelich reach their potential.  However, now that they are no longer healthy, there is real doubt that they can stay in the race.

Pittsburgh Pirates

As we have seen with the Pirates the past few seasons, the Pirates a second half team.  They are currently 62-59, three games back, and have a favorable schedule from here on out.

The Pirates are turning things around by turning over their rotation.  They have traded away struggling and underperforming pieces in Francisco Liriano and Jon Niese and have replaced them with top prospect Jameson Taillon and former Yankee Ivan Nova.  Nova seems to be the type of pitcher pitching coach Ray Searage thrives with, and it certainly hasn’t hurt him being reunited with his old catcher Francisco Cervelli.

Part of the reason the Pirates are in this position is not just their rotation, but it was also due to the struggles of Andrew McCutchen.  McCutchen is having a big second half.  Coupled with Starling Marte‘s terrific season, and the Pirates suddenly have a potent lineup.

In the end, the big question is if the young Pirates rotation and a bullpen without Mark Melancon can continue a second half charge to claim the second Wild Card spot.

New York Mets

The Mets have been a mess since April.  Most of their players were hurt, stopped hitting, or both.  However, now, the team is healthy, or as healthy as they can possibly be.  Seeing Yoenis Cespedes in the lineup reminds you of the difference maker he is in the Mets lineup, and it is a reminder of the type of run the Mets are capable of making.  For that to happen, the Mets are going to need more of the same from Jacob deGrom, and they are going to need Noah Syndergaard to keep pitching the way he did yesterday.  The Mets will also need their other pitchers to step up especially if Steven Matz is going to be out for the season like Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler are.

In the end, if the Mets are goign to run, they have to start with them taking the Cardinals down a few pegs in this three game set starting tomorrow.  If the Mets are not able to at least win two out of three, it is going to be an even steeper hill to climb to make it back to the postseason.

Editor’s Note: this was also published on Mets Merized Online.