QUEENS, NY — New York Mets star shortstop Francisco Lindor has begun running and partaking in baseball activities, including hitting in the cages and taking groundballs, manager Carlos Mendoza disclosed on Monday.
Lindor has been on the IL since April 23 with a strained calf muscle, which still does not have a concrete timetable put on it.
“We just go day-by-day, week-by-week,” Mendoza said. “The good thing is that he’s already in that phase where he’s doing baseball [activities]. But it’s hard to put a timetable. He still has to check a lot of boxes.”
Bo Bichette will continue to get the bulk of the playing time at shortstop while Lindor’s rehab starts to ramp up.
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Jorge Polanco, who continues to work his way back from wrist and ankle injuries, took some at-bats in Port St. Lucie on Sunday and had a full workout scheduled for Monday. The Mets are hopeful he can begin a minor league rehab assignment “sometime this week.”
Brought in to play first base, Mendoza admitted that the bulk of Polanco’s playing time upon his return will be as the designated hitter in order to “keep him off his feet as much as possible.”
The veteran infielder has not appeared in a game since April 14, with the bursitis in his left Achilles proving to be the most difficult hurdle to clear.
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Center fielder Luis Robert Jr., out since April 26, remains sidelined with little progress due to a back injury.
“He’s still in the training room, not doing much,” Mendoza said.
His acquisition from the Chicago White Sox is becoming moot. All the work the Mets did in spring training to keep the oft-injured slugger on the field did not work, and the emergence of Carson Benge and AJ Ewing suggests his time with the organization won’t be lengthy.
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Catcher Francisco Alvarez is currently projected to blow the doors of the originally predicted eight-week timetable after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee less than two weeks ago. The 24-year-old is already hitting and catching.
“This guy is unbelievable,” Mendoza said. “We were talking about eight weeks. I’m not sure about that now. This guy is built differently. I saw him earlier, and he said, ‘I feel ready to go,’ and I’m like, ‘Pump the brakes a little here.’ But there are a lot of positives from him there, too.”
Luis Torrens has done the bulk of the starting behind the plate, with Hayden Senger backing him up.
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Utility man/DH Jared Young, who tore the meniscus in his left knee on April 12, is likely to be activated off the injured list on Tuesday.
The left-handed bat could do wonders for a thin Mets bench, as he was batting .350 with an .841 OPS in 20 at-bats.
The hope is that veteran southpaw reliever AJ Minter will also be activated on either Tuesday or Wednesday after missing the last year with a lat injury that required surgery. He continued his throwing progression on Monday, and the team will make a call then.
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Starting pitcher Kodai Senga (back) threw a bullpen session on Monday and will make another rehab start on Thursday at either Double-A Binghamton or Triple-A Syracuse.
The Japanese right-hander was on the cusp of losing his spot in the rotation before being placed on the IL. He had a 17.28 ERA in his last three starts, with the Mets calling up Christian Scott and, more recently, following Clay Holmes’ fractured fibula, Jonah Tong, to keep the rotation afloat.
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