Mets SS Francisco Lindor could be back by the end of June

NEW YORK (AP) — Francisco Lindor has started playing simulated games and New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns is hopeful the shortstop can return to the team by the end of June.

“Our expectation’s he’s going to play games for us this month,” Stearns said Friday before the Mets opened a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves. “I don’t know exactly when this month, but that means we’re getting closer. We want to go as fast as possible and smart as possible, and that’s a delicate line.”

Manager Carlos Mendoza said Lindor, who suffered a strained left calf while running the bases against the Minnesota Twins on April 22, played a two-inning simulated game Friday.

Lindor took at-bats against a pitcher from Single-A Brooklyn, though he didn’t run after making contact. He also fielded ground balls.

“More like a controlled environment (where) we’re simulating game action but we’re controlling it,” Mendoza said. “He’s going to do that again next week here, where instead of two innings it’s more like three, five (innings). And then we’ll revisit at the end of next week to see what’s the next step.”

Lindor would still require a rehab stint in the minors following what will end up being his longest stay on the injured list, Mendoza said. Lindor has missed the last 44 games, during which the Mets have gone 22-22.

He missed just 52 games in his first five seasons with the team and played at least 143 games in each of his first four nonpandemic seasons with Cleveland.

Lindor will likely return to a club still trying to play its way back from a 12-game losing streak in April — the longest skid for the Mets since 2002.

New York, which is in the midst of a 25-game stretch against teams that began June with a winning record, is in last place in the NL East.

“There’s no question we’ve played better since April, but we still haven’t played consistent enough to get ourselves out of a hole that we dug in April,” Stearns said. “And we’re very aware of that. So we have to prove it. I continue to believe that we have people in the clubhouse who are capable of doing this."

Pitcher Kodai Senga took an encouraging step in his return from lumbar spine inflammation on Thursday, when he allowed one hit over six innings for Double-A Binghamton.

Senga, whose start was pushed back two days due to ulnar nerve irritation, is expected to throw a bullpen in New York before making at least one more rehab start.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb