Perched in first place with a mostly healthy roster and one of their most dynamic offensive cores in decades, the Mets entered late July sensing another fine runway for a deep postseason run. They then became one of the Trade Deadline’s more active teams,

The addition of Mullins created a chain reaction. When the Mets activated Mullins for Friday’s game, they sent rookie infielder Luisangel Acuña to Triple-A Syracuse. And while Taylor started in center field on Friday, he is primed to lose playing time with Mullins in the mix.