Mets are dangerously close to panic mode

The New York Mets have lost six straight games after dropping a 7-5 decision Thursday to the Atlanta Braves, and that's not even the worst of it.

First, Noah Syndergaard was scratched from Thursday's start with a "tired arm."

Second, his replacement - Matt Harvey - was terrible, lasting 4 1/3 innings and allowing six runs on five hits and five walks while only striking out a single batter.

Since bad things apparently come in threes, outfield phenom Yoenis Cespedes had to be sacrificed to the baseball gods as he left the game with a hamstring injury. He was helped off the field after hitting a leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth inning.

There's a limit to how long you can stave off panic and dread by claiming the season is young, and the Mets have reached that point. No team, not the Toronto Blue Jays nor Kansas City Royals, have a worse record over the last 10 games.

First baseman - and sometimes outfielder - Jay Bruce said Monday it was too early to panic. A lot can change in three days. But the fact remains that the Mets are already buried in the NL East at 6 1/2 games back entering Thursday and staring at an even greater deficit should the division-leading Washington Nationals defeat the Colorado Rockies yet again.

Too many key injuries

All teams fall to injuries. It's a long season. It's unavoidable. The Los Angeles Dodgers have had a greater volume of injured roster players to date, for example.

The difference is the quality of players being lost to injury. While Syndergaard may only miss this one start, neither Steven Matz nor Seth Lugo have started a game this season. While neither was seen as the team's ace, it's indicative of how fragile the balance between healthy and injured truly is. Starting pitching was seen as a source of depth heading into the season, and now it's possibly the weakest part of the team, especially if Syndergaard's MRI reveals bad news.

Losing Cespedes isn't like losing a fourth outfielder. It's not even like losing Bruce, no matter how good Bruce has played. Cespedes is the offense's cornerstone. He and Bruce are tied for the team lead in home runs with six and have scored the lion's share of the team's runs.

This is a team already cobbling together an infield without David Wright. Without Syndergaard and Cespedes, this team isn't a wild card team, let alone a World Series contender.

This is not a long-term issue

Even if the Mets collapse and fail to charge toward the postseason in 2017, there are a ton of pieces ready to re-stock for 2018. This is not a team that needs a complete tear-down. Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom are both under team control for several more years, and Cespedes is under contract through 2020.

Michael Conforto hasn't entered his arbitration years yet, and has gotten off to a hot start at the plate, being one of the few bright lights in the team's darkened beginnings. And despite some injuries of his own, catcher Travis d'Arnaud has been playing decently.

There's also help waiting at Triple-A. Shortstop Amed Rosario and first baseman Dominic Smith are off to incredible starts with the Las Vegas 51s. Rosario is hitting .397 with eight RBIs and five stolen bases. Smith is hitting .342 with a pair of home runs, five doubles, and 14 RBIs.

Bruce, Lucas Duda, Curtis Granderson, and Jose Reyes are all free agents after this season and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera could be a trade chip despite being signed through 2018.

It may still be too early to write off the season, but they travel to D.C. to open a three-game set against the division-leading Nationals before a four-game series against the Braves who just beat them twice in a row.

While more losses would not be ideal, it would help crystallize the team's reality. Clear out the expiring contracts in the summer, call up the young guns to get them a taste of the show and enter 2018 with a team that could contend for several years to come.