How coronavirus hiatus and new jam-packed schedule could impact Mets during stretch run

When the Mets return to action on Tuesday for the first time since one player and one coach tested positive for the coronavirus, putting their season on pause for four days, they will be embarking on a stretch where they'll play nine games in six days -- including three doubleheaders.

Their upcoming schedule is demanding and unfair, but not any more unfair than what the Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and the teams (like the Philadelphia Phillies and Yankees) impacted by the coronavirus outbreaks of their opponents have gone through.

Baseball in 2020 is dangerous and strange, and what the Mets just dealt with (and what two of their members are still dealing with) was a reminder of that.

Starting Tuesday, the Mets -- who at 12-14 are percentage points behind the 13-15 Colorado Rockies for the second wild card in the NL -- are scheduled to play 34 games in 34 days.

Here's how the recent coronavirus pause and their new jam-packed schedule could impact them as they make their playoff push...

Lots of doubleheaders + questionable starting pitching

The Mets play doubleheaders on Tuesday (against the Marlins) and on Friday and Sunday (against the Yankees). They will need to have nine starters for those games, with the possibility that those who start Tuesday's games could start again on Sunday.

But the Mets might not go conventional here, with GM Brodie Van Wagenen saying Monday that the team could get "creative," noting that they were already stretching out multiple guys to be "bulk inning" pitchers.

"Whether those bulk inning pitchers start games or whether they're tag-teaming to get through five, six, seven innings of a particular game is something we want to make sure that we're exploring," Van Wagenen said. "It's only more important now when we're faced with playing multiple doubleheaders in a single week."

The David Peterson and Michael Wacha factor

The timing of the Mets' pause was bad in that it took a hot offensive team off the field, but arguably good in that it prevented them from rolling out starting pitchers Robert Gsellman and Corey Oswalt against the Yankees.

With the time that's passed between the Mets' last game and now, Van Wagenen is "hopeful" that both Peterson and Wacha will be available when they return. And if one or both of them is available, it will be a boon for a starting rotation that has been losing pieces by the day -- whether due to injury, a coronavirus opt out (Marcus Stroman), or performance (Steven Matz).

Other options to start games or fill multiple innings include Franklyn Kilome and Walker Lockett.

The Subway Series will now be a mostly Yankee Stadium affair

Instead of three games at Citi Field and three games at Yankee Stadium, the Mets will now play five games at Yankee Stadium (all this weekend) and one at Citi Field.

The updated schedule, which was set by MLB, was something Van Wagenen didn't seem thrilled about when he spoke on Monday, but the GM noted that other teams have dealt with similar situations this season.

Aside from not having the comfort of being at home (though the Mets will be the "home" team during two of the Yankee Stadium games), the short porches in the Bronx could create a tough situation for a team whose starting rotation is still in flux.

The Mets' playoff position improved during the hiatus, setting them up well for the stretch

If the Mets don't finish in first or second place in the NL East, they'll likely need teams in the NL West and/or NL Central to cool off a bit, and that happened over the last week.

The Rockies (seven losses in a row), Arizona Diamondbacks (five losses in a row), Milwaukee Brewers (four losses in a row) and Cincinnati Reds (two losses in a row) have all come back to the pack.

That's great news for a Mets team that is still trying to find its footing and faces a daunting week ahead.