HOUSTON — If the theme of the Mets’ season is one step forward and one step back, it has been Daniel Vogelbach’s turn to take a step up.
In a dispiriting, mistake-filled 10-8 loss to the Astros at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday, the resurgence of the DH continued.
Vogelbach, who received a full week off from June 8-15 to take some time to figure out himself and his swing, has looked fixed since his return.
The veteran slugger contributed three more hits and three more RBIs in the loss Wednesday, in which the Mets’ offense kept responding.
“Just getting back to being myself,” said Vogelbach, who has worked relentlessly to hit more batted balls in the air. “I said through it all I always believed in myself and believed you don’t just forget how to hit.”
If Vogelbach had forgotten, he clearly has remembered. Vogelbach began a rally in the second inning by leading off with a slapped single down the third-base line.
In the third, Vogelbach roped an RBI double down the first-base line.
An inning later, he came through with a two-out, bases-loaded single back up the middle to tie the score at 6-6.
Vogelbach drove in 14 runs in his first 47 games this season.
He now has logged seven RBIs in five games since his weeklong break.
“This isn’t about me,” Vogelbach said. “This is about us and us trying to win games. I thought today in the game we could’ve easily laid down, and we just kept punching back. We kept punching back and just ended up short against a really good team.”
Josh Walker was drilled in the quad by a comebacker from Jeremy Peña in the seventh inning. Walker left the game, but Showalter said he believes the rookie lefty will be OK by Friday.
The Mets stole a season-high four bases, their most in a game since April 29, 2018, in San Diego.
Buck Showalter declined to reveal his rotation for the series in Philadelphia that begins Friday.
If the Mets stay on turn, it would be Kodai Senga, Carlos Carrasco and Max Scherzer, all pitching on five days’ rest because they have Thursday off.
Showalter has wanted to split up Scherzer and Justin Verlander and said doing so is “just a matter of when.”
“It would help the bullpen some,” Showalter said of his two co-aces, who covered 15 innings in the series in Houston.
The rotation is expected to welcome Jose Quintana in early July.
The veteran lefty is expected to pitch Thursday in his third rehab appearance after lasting 3 ¹/₃ innings (46 pitches) with Single-A St. Lucie on Sunday.
Showalter said Sam Coonrod (right lat strain) is getting close to a rehab assignment, but he did not know exactly when.
The power righty has spent the season on the 60-day injured list.
Showalter said without the injury, Coonrod likely would have made the club out of spring training.
Stephen Rydings, who also has a right lat strain, was reinstated from the injury list last week and optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. In his Triple-A debut Sunday, he struck out the side.
“Those are two really good arms we’d love to see get healthy,” Showalter said. “They can help us.”