The scene — even if it doesn’t mean an imminent return — was still a promising one for the Mets. It was a taste of normalcy in a sinking season.
There was Francisco Lindor, out since April 22 with a strained left calf, on the field throwing and fielding ground balls while kneeling on the grass after being cleared for baseball activities to mark a promising sign in his injury return.
Lindor can now run, hit in the cages and take ground balls, manager Carlos Mendoza said before the Mets lost to the Reds 7-2 at Citi Field on Monday. After the Mets’ update earlier this month revolved around Lindor needing to let his calf — injured while running the bases — heal more, this one meant that he’d progressed tangibly, even if Mendoza cautioned that it’s still difficult to put a timetable on his return.
“He’s gotta check a lot of boxes still,” Mendoza said.
But after what has been a brutal stretch of injuries for the Mets (22-32) across the first two months of the season, they opened a six-game homestand with some positive updates — including with Lindor. Jared Young, out since April 13 with a left meniscus tear, could return Tuesday. Reliever A.J. Minter, who hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since April 2025, is expected to be activated this week, too. Jorge Polanco, limited to just 14 games while dealing with Achilles and wrist injuries, was set to go through a workout at Citi Field and could begin a rehab assignment later this week. Kodai Senga (lumbar spine inflammation) was scheduled to throw a bullpen Monday and make a rehab start Thursday.
And Francisco Alvarez, originally pegged with an eight-week recovery after tearing his right meniscus, has already begun hitting, resumed catching and even walked up to Mendoza to say “I feel ready to go” after just two weeks.
“This guy is built differently,” Mendoza said while acknowledging that Alvarez could beat the initial timeline. “I was like, ‘Pump the brakes a little bit here.’ ”
These returns won’t matter for the Mets until they’re actually in the lineup, until they’re actually making tangible improvements to a roster currently occupying the basement of the NL East. But for one day, they encountered a slight reason for optimism about their healing roster.
Mets outfielder Tyrone Taylor exited with right hip pain after running out a grounder in the sixth inning. He walked gingerly back to the dugout and immediately went down the tunnel. He’ll undergo an MRI on Tuesday, Mendoza said, adding it’ll probably lead to an injured list stint.
A struggling Mets lineup that managed just two runs across a three-game sweep in Miami needed to operate without Juan Soto again Monday.
Soto, who was scratched Sunday with a flu-like illness that’s been going around the team, was absent again — though Mendoza had hoped pregame that he might be available off the bench after still having a fever again Sunday night and still feeling weak.
“We just gotta wait the next few hours, how he develops and hopefully there’s some type of availability later,” Mendoza said. “But who knows. We gotta wait.”
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Bo Bichette, who entered with three homers, nine RBIs and an .821 OPS over his past eight games, picked up another three hits Monday. … Carson Benge singled to center in the third inning and has collected a hit in 16 of his past 21 games.
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