NEW YORK -- As the New York Mets prepare to open the second half on Friday in Philadelphia, here are five questions left to be resolved this season:

1. How do the Mets fill the Dark Knight’s rotation spot? Logan Verrett starts on Saturday in Philadelphia, taking a second straight rotation turn in place of Matt Harvey. Verrett will need to produce in that outing. Otherwise, the Mets will seriously weigh dipping to Las Vegas for Gabriel Ynoa or Sean Gilmartin, depending upon whether they want a righty or a lefty. Ynoa, 23, is 9-3 with a 4.19 ERA in 18 starts in the Pacific Coast League. He logged a scoreless inning Wednesday in the Triple-A All-Star Game. Struggling Rafael Montero, who has a 7.20 ERA in 16 Pacific Coast League starts this season, is not a remedy. In fact, Montero was just demoted to Double-A Binghamton, where he had not appeared since 2013. The Mets are not dismissing the idea of acquiring a starting pitcher via trade, but they are more likely to bring in a reliever if they do make a deal before the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline. Zack Wheeler still has a significant mount of time to go before he returns from Tommy John surgery, which was performed in March 2015. Late August might be the best-case scenario for Wheeler’s return in the majors.

2. When will Conforto return? Despite Michael Conforto hitting .340 with three homers and 13 RBIs in 13 games since a demotion to Las Vegas, the Mets are not prepared to return him to the major league level in the immediate future. Numbers in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League can be deceptive. So Brandon Nimmo can exhale. Still, barring an injury, the Mets do not intend to have Conforto and Nimmo at the major league level together before September. That’s because not enough playing time would be available for both, and the Mets do not want a prospect sitting. That’s particularly good news for fellow lefty hitter Alejandro De Aza, who is in no danger of getting designated for assignment in the near future despite a .176 average, two homers and six RBIs in 108 at-bats.

3. Will the Mets’ rotation hold up? That’s anyone’s guess. Noah Syndergaard downplays what is being labeled a tired arm. The issue caused his fastball velocity to drop to 91 mph in the last inning of his final first-half start. The Mets are giving Syndergaard maximum rest without disrupting the rotation. They are waiting until the fifth game after the break -- on Tuesday at Wrigley Field -- to see if that does the trick. Meanwhile, Steven Matz will try to pitch the remainder of the season using anti-inflammatory medication to dull the discomfort from a bone spur that will need to be surgically removed no later than this offseason.

4. What happens at the trade deadline? The Mets are more likely to acquire a relief pitcher than a starting pitcher if they make a deadline deal, although team officials do not dismiss the latter. The New York Post listed potential relief acquisitions as San Diego’s Ryan Buchter and Brad Hand, Oakland’s John Axford and Atlanta’s Chris Withrow. One acquisition that is highly unlikely to materialize is the signing of Cuban defector Yulieski Gourriel, an infielder the Mets worked out last month. Gourriel, who would require a multiyear commitment, would not be ready to help the Mets anytime soon because he would need to tune up in the minors after not playing against actual competition at all this season. And Mets scouts did not come away overly enthused from Gourriel’s June 27 private workout at the team’s complex in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

5. Will the Mets make the playoffs? The Mets enter the second half trailing the Washington Nationals by six games in the division. And the wild-card standings are congested, so there’s no guarantee. The Los Angeles Dodgers occupy the top wild-card spot at 51-40, followed by the Mets and Miami Marlins tied for the second spot at 47-41. The St. Louis Cardinals (46-42) and Pittsburgh Pirates (46-43) are in hot pursuit, too. Assuming the National League division leaders hold on -- and they all have leads of six to seven games -- there’s going to be a fierce battle for those two wild-card berths. Still, among 19 playoff contenders across the majors, ESPN’s Buster Olney ranks the Mets’ reamining schedule the fourth-weakest. Only the Texas Rangers, Dodgers and Pirates have softer schedules. Sure, 39 of the Mets’ final 74 games are on the road. However, only 32 of the Mets’ remaining games (43.2 percent) are against teams with a record above .500.