Mets on one of the best runs in franchise history

This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- Whether you’d prefer to credit Grimace, “OMG” or some other, more mundane intervention, the bottom line is that the Mets are hot. Their lineup is thumping. Their pitching staff is holding things together.

The Mets have, in short order, erased nearly all the problems that held them down in April and May.

One quick reality check: As shortstop Francisco Lindor was quick to note on Thursday morning, the Mets still have plenty of work to do. But their ability to rise back to a .500 record despite being 11 games under just 3 1/2 weeks ago is a credit to them, full stop.

It’s also a pretty rare thing. Consider some of the facts and figures of this run:

? Discounting overlapping streaks, this marks only the 10th time this century the Mets have won 15 games over a 19-game stretch, putting this alongside some of their best runs during playoff years in 2000, '06 and '22. Such extended hot streaks have been a staple of successful seasons throughout their history, but otherwise they haven’t happened often. The Mets didn’t win 15 of 19 a single time between 1962-68, for example, or 1974-83, or 1992-98.

? As for the best calendar months in franchise history, this June -- with the caveat that it’s not yet complete -- ranks right up there at 15-6. In terms of winning percentage, the Mets have only had one better June in franchise history, when they went 21-7 (.750) in 1990. If they sweep the Astros this weekend, they’ll match that win rate. Only four Mets clubs have produced winning percentages higher than .750 in a calendar month, led by the 1986 World Series champions, who went 13-3 (.813) in April.

? Entering Thursday’s play, four of the top 20 leaders in National League position player fWAR this month were Mets (Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, J.D. Martínez and Mark Vientos). Similarly, five of the top 22 NL leaders in OPS in June wore orange and blue (the four listed above, plus Harrison Bader).

? Given that last bullet point, it may come as no surprise that the Mets as a team entered Thursday leading the Majors in batting average, on-base percentage, OPS, and runs per game in June. Their total of 6.43 runs per game this month was more than a full run better than just about every team in the league, and twice as productive as a couple of the bottom clubs.

? Per FanGraphs, the Mets’ odds of reaching the postseason, which had dipped as low as 7.9 percent on June 2, have more than quintupled to 41.6 percent.

“It does feel good that we are on the right track, but we understand that that’s not the mission,” Lindor said of returning to .500 so quickly. “We’ve just got to continue climbing the mountain.”