Mets injuries are mounting again, but here's why it's not time to panic

The common thing to do when discussing the Mets (and we've all done it) is to react in the extreme one way or the other.

For example...

The Mets have won seven games in a row and the offense is on fire. They're going to run away with the NL East

OR

The Mets are dealing with a series of new injuries, some serious, right as they were getting healthy. The situation is grim

Sometimes, though, a situation isn't as terrible as it seems. Sometimes, a measured response is the right one. And that's where we find ourselves a day after the Mets lost three more players to injury and saw one other leave a game early.

On a day where the Mets welcomed Jeff McNeil back after more than a month on the shelf due to a hamstring injury, and got a vintage performance from Jacob deGrom five days after his shoulder scare, the Mets were dealt three blows:

Joey Lucchesi has a significant tear in his UCL and could be headed for season-ending Tommy John surgery

Robert Gsellman is out for six-to-eight weeks due to a lat injury

Jeurys Familia landed on the IL because of a hip impingement

As far as Jonathan Villar is concerned, the tight calf that forced him to leave Monday's game could be a minor thing. And if it isn't, the Mets can use both McNeil and Luis Guillorme in the infield.

Taken together, the three recent pitching injuries are tough. There's no denying that. But when put into context with the rest of the roster and the overall state of the Mets, it's easy to see why they shouldn't be difficult to overcome.

Let's discuss the bullpen injuries first...

The loss of Gsellman is less than ideal at a time when the Mets are in the midst of three doubleheaders in a week and need as many innings-eaters as they can get.

But -- and this is to take nothing away from Gsellman, who has been effective this season -- he was for all intents and purposes the last man in the bullpen. And he had pitched just three times since May 27.

The loss of Familia will likely sting more than the loss of Gsellman, but Familia -- who had pitched well this season despite an unsightly 1.74 WHIP -- is not among the Mets' top five relievers.

The five relievers the Mets have relied on the most this season and who are their most important late inning arms, are Edwin Diaz, Seth Lugo, Trevor May, Miguel Castro, and Aaron Loup. 

Additionally, Luis Rojas is hopeful Familia will be able to return as soon as his 10-day stint on the IL is up.

In other words, the bullpen should be fine.

The Mets' main concern right now should be the loss of Lucchesi.

At present, the Mets have the best pitcher on the planet in Jacob deGrom and two very good starters behind him in Marcus Stroman and Taijuan Walker. And over his last two starts, David Peterson has rebounded to look more like the promising pitcher he was in 2020 than the erratic one he was earlier this season.

Even though the Mets are set right now in four of five rotation spots, their lack of depth makes the loss of Lucchesi and current situation in the No. 5 spot tenuous.

But the Mets are not oblivious to the above, and were already open to adding starting pitching even before Lucchesi went down.

The Lucchesi injury makes the situation more urgent, but even if the Mets are unable to acquire a replacement in the next few weeks, they can get by until they do by cobbling together those starts with some combination of Jerad Eickhoff, Thomas Szapucki, Tylor Megill, and openers. Not ideal, but also not dire.

If someone had told you just over a month ago that the Mets -- with more players on the IL than they've had in recent memory, including half of their starting lineup -- would enter play on June 22 at 37-30 and with a 4.0 game lead in the NL East, you would've taken it and ran.

And with the Mets still in prime position in the NL East, their offense -- which just got McNeil back -- is about to get a huge boost with the returns of Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo.

The team can also keep hoping for the return of Carlos Carrasco and -- eventually -- Noah Syndergaard. But neither of those pitchers can be viewed as givens. And that's why the Mets so badly need to trade for a starting pitcher before the deadline.

But two things can be true...

One: The Mets need to find a starting pitcher from outside the organization.

Two: The first-place Mets are in good shape overall.