The New York Mets should be getting one of their injured stars back in the coming weeks.
Shortstop Francisco Lindor (left calf strain) is expected to return from the injured list in the third week of June, per MLB insider Jon Heyman of The New York Post.
Lindor strained his calf against the Minnesota Twins on April 22. The Mets placed him on the IL the following day and he has been out ever since.
Lindor, 32, has been hitting, running and fielding and will likely require a minor league rehab assignment before he is set to rejoin the Mets in the big-leagues.
The typical iron man has been limited to just 24 games this season, where he has slashed .226/.314/.355 with a .669 OPS, two home runs and five RBI. However, in his final seven games prior to his injury he was hitting .360/.385/.640 with two homers.
Lindor has played in at least 160 games in three out of the last four seasons. He has not appeared in less than 152 games since 2021 (125 games) when he strained his oblique in his first season as a Met.
Lindor is the most important Mets player not named Juan Soto. His absence is a big reason why the Mets have gotten off to a brutal 27-35 start to the season.
That being said, by the time Lindor returns to the Mets it might be too late to salvage their campaign. The Mets have a tough schedule ahead of them in June where they will go up against teams over .500 in six straight series. They're fresh off losing two out of three to the surging Seattle Mariners.
In addition to Lindor, the Mets are without Jorge Polanco (Achilles bursitis, wrist), Luis Robert Jr. (back) and Francisco Alvarez (torn meniscus). The good news is that Polanco and Alvarez are currently both playing on rehab assignments.
So, the Mets should get three out of four regular position players back from the IL this month. Will it be too late to save their season? Time will tell.
