How The Return of Conforto and McNeil Transformed the Mets' Offense

While the Mets suffered a slew of injuries in the pitching department earlier this week, once the smoke cleared and the panic settled, their offense woke up.

First, they got second baseman Jeff McNeil back on Monday, but that wasn't enough, as the team was shutout in back-to-back contests.

However, outfielder Michael Conforto was activated ahead of Wednesday's game with the Atlanta Braves, and there was a noticeable difference given the impact of both his bat, and McNeil's.

Hitting in the top three spots in the batting order, Conforto went 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored, while McNeil picked up three hits and drove in a run in the Mets' 7-3 win over the Braves.

Jeff McNeil drives in Luis Guillorme to make it 3-0! pic.twitter.com/gX6FKh36hy
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 23, 2021

"It’s awesome. Obviously, getting that first one out of the way in that first at-bat is great," Conforto said after the game. "The process started pretty quick there. It was good to jump right into the action, test the hamstring. I didn’t have any doubt about it, but nevertheless it was good to get a nice, solid run in and from there I just kind of stopped thinking about it and just started thinking about playing the game and focus on playing defense and having good at-bats, and from there we’ll just build off of today."

Sandwiched between these two sluggers was superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor, who endured a 2-for-4 performance of his own with a home run and three RBIs, as the Mets took the fourth-and-final game to split the series with Atlanta.

Lindor has left the building. It’s 5-0 #Mets pic.twitter.com/VDyetTlHWj
— Pat Ragazzo (@ragazzoreport) June 23, 2021

"I was able to watch Jeff in Triple-A for a few days. He looked great over there. And to be able to watch Francisco over the last couple of weeks really start to swing the bat well has been really good too," Conforto said. " It’s definitely fun to be a part of that group and it was great to jump back into the three hole and be able to come up with a couple hits, score some runs, and help the team win."

In his last seven games, Lindor has three home runs and eight RBIs and is slashing .292/.320/.667. And it's no secret that the added protection in the Mets' lineup benefited him last night. It has also helped catcher James McCann, who went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI out of the six hole on Wednesday.

James McCann drives it up the middle and it's 6-3 Mets! pic.twitter.com/YUsalz87rR
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 24, 2021

As for Conforto and McNeil, they have returned just in the nick of time after their club got shut out four times in seven games. This duo missed close to six weeks, each dealing with hamstring strains, but they both made it back sooner than expected.

In the meantime, the "bench mob" has picked up the slack in their absence, as the Mets have held a tight grasp on first-place in the National League East since early May.

"It’s incredible. Every day, it feels like, we get some new guys in here and they jump right in and they’re here to do their job and they do it well," he said. "I can’t say enough about all the guys who stepped in in tough situations in a really tough league against really good teams."

The Amazins' now sit four-games up in the division at 38-31 with a much-needed off day on Thursday, before playing their third double header in the last seven days on Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies.

And with the additions of Conforto and McNeil, the Mets' offensive woes appear to be behind them, especially with Brandon Nimmo nearing a return, as well.