Three-hundred-and-sixty-five days ago, the Mets were dead in the water.

What had been a commanding NL East lead in July had disappeared in the space of a week. The Mets took a five-game lead into Aug. 1. They proceeded to lose seven of eight games, including getting swept in Philadelphia to drop out of first place — for good.

Jacob deGrom would not pitch the rest of the season. The Mets soon fell below .500, stayed there and finished 11.5 games back of the Braves, setting off a reckoning that saw Luis Rojas fired as manager and Buck Showalter hired, Billy Eppler brought in as GM and a series of acquisitions made to ensure history would not repeat.

A year, it turns out, does indeed make all the difference.