NEW YORK -- At this point, the Mets’ 2021 rotation consists of two pitchers, Jacob deGrom and David Peterson, who have earned their way into it based on merit. After that is anyone’s guess.

A significant part of the equation will depend upon whether the front office views Seth Lugo as a starter or a reliever following his month-long foray into the rotation. Certainly, Lugo wants to start; he’s made that clear. And he did a fine job of stating his case on Tuesday, pitching effectively into the seventh inning of the Mets’ 5-2 win over the Rays at Citi Field.

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“To dissect a lineup multiple times through and pitch deep into a game, that’s a lot of fun for me,” Lugo said.

The victory kept the Mets’ slim postseason hopes alive, ensuring they cannot be eliminated until at least Thursday. They could still make the playoffs if they win every one of their remaining games, though at this point, even that might not be enough.

On a more personal level for Lugo, the performance gave the Mets something to consider as they head into the offseason. For two years, the team resisted moving Lugo out of the bullpen, believing him to be too valuable as a multi-inning fireman capable of pitching in the highest-leverage spots. Lugo did excel in that role, but believed he could do more to help the Mets as a starter. Team officials finally budged late last month, giving Lugo a chance with mixed initial results. He pitched well in his first four starts, but allowed more runs (six) than he recorded outs (five) in his last one.

So it was a welcome sight for the Mets to see Lugo thrive against the Rays and their lefty-heavy lineup, allowing his only earned run on a Willy Adames homer. Lugo would have completed seven innings of one-run ball if not for a Todd Frazier error on his final pitch, which turned a potential inning-ending double play into an eventual unearned run. The Mets scored three of their own runs on solo homers from Robinson Canó, Pete Alonso and Guillermo Heredia -- the first two of those off former American League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.

That was plenty for Lugo, who has worked around his understandable velocity drop -- about 1.5 mph off his fastball, on average -- since moving from the bullpen to the rotation. Tuesday, Lugo leaned heavily on his changeup and curveball, while mixing in higher-octane fastballs when he needed them most.

“He was using his breaking ball a lot,” Adames said. “He was hitting both sides of the plate really well, and we couldn’t do any damage against him.”

It was another indication that Lugo could be an answer for the Mets’ 2021 rotation. Beyond deGrom and Peterson, the Mets’ options are thin. Noah Syndergaard is one, but there are no guarantees that his Tommy John rehab will be complete by Opening Day. Steven Matz is another, but the Mets may prefer to go in another direction after Matz’s 2020 struggles twice cost him his rotation job. Marcus Stroman, Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha are all about to become free agents, and the Mets don’t have any obvious candidates in their farm system ready to step in by April.

The team will surely invest in a free-agent starter (or three), but how aggressively it shops will depend upon an ownership situation that isn’t yet resolved. And even if the Mets throw gobs of money at Trevor Bauer or someone like him, there still could be a spot for Lugo in the rotation.

If so, he’ll be eager to grab it.

“He has qualities as a starter. He has incredible knowledge of the game,” Alonso said. “It’s artwork in a way. It’s awesome when he goes out there and executes. … I don’t care where he pitches. I’m confident that if Seth has the ball, he’s going to get a lot of outs.”