The Mets should have a hop in their step going into their three-game series in Cincinnati, with Max Scherzer officially rejoining the starting rotation on Tuesday and Jacob deGrom looking as dominant as ever in his first rehab start on Sunday night.

After the Mets went 13-12 in June, perhaps the time is right to get hot again, as they come off a series win against the Texas Rangers and now face the team with the worst record in the National League.

Here are five things to look for in the series against the Reds.

1) METS SHOULD BE THINKING SWEEP

Why not? The schedule offers the Mets a chance to beat up on a struggling Reds team that had lost 10 straight home games before ending the streak with a comeback win on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves.

Overall the Reds are 27-51, and though they rebounded somewhat from a horrendous 3-22 start to the season, they have gone cold again lately, winning only four of their last 16 games.

For the most part the Reds rank poorly in both hitting and pitching, with one remarkable exception. Somehow they’re leading the majors in clutch hitting, ranking first with a .285 average with runners in scoring position and also first with a crazy-good .302 average with two outs and RISP.

2) SCHERZER’S BACK

Scherzer returns to the rotation for the first time since leaving his start on May 18 with an oblique injury. And he couldn’t have picked a better spot to come back, at least judging by his record in Great American Ballpark, where he is 4-0 with a 0.33 ERA.

How good is that? In four starts in Cincinnati, Scherzer has given up exactly one run in 27 innings while racking up 42 strikeouts and holding Reds hitters to a .138 batting average. Overall he is 6-2 with a 1.84 ERA in nine starts against Cincinnati.

Statistically the Reds don’t have a productive offense, ranking 12^th in the National League in runs scored and 14^th in slugging percentage, ahead of only the Pittsburgh Pirates. Their long-time mainstay, Joey Votto, at age 38 is hitting only .216 with six HRs and a .719 OPS, while journeyman infielder -- and ex-Met -- Brandon Drury leads them with 16 HRs.

3) METS’ OFFENSE COULD FEAST

It shapes up as an enticing series for the Mets’ offense, which has been sluggish the last few weeks, as the Reds have the highest ERA in the majors at 5.50.

Cincinnati’s starters are a big part of the problem, pitching to a 5.39 ERA, ranking second-worst in the majors, and the bullpen is worse, with a 5.70 ERA that is last in the majors, and it’s not close. Their pen is in such disarray that lately they’ve turned to journeyman reliever Hunter Strickland to close for them.

In addition, the Mets will miss the Reds’ most accomplished starter, Luis Castillo. Instead they’ll get rookie righthander Hunter Greene, who throws 100 mph but has given up 20 HRs in 14 starts, as well as lefty Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft.

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