Jorge

Polanco

Soto has been dealing with the issue since the beginning of the second half. He’s again likely day-to-day. If he plays again this weekend, it’d probably be as a DH, meaning there wouldn’t be a spot for Jorge Polanco in the lineup.

Polanco is 4-for-25 with one extra-base hit and a total of four hard-hit balls since coming off the injured list. It probably wouldn’t be worth worrying about if he was 100 percent physically, but he’s obviously not completely recovered from his Achilles issues, and it’s not at all clear that he’ll be helpful over the rest of the season. If he doesn’t start to improve over these next couple of weeks, one wonders if the Mets might decide to shut him down and try to get him ready for 2027.

Robert Jr. has been on the injured list with a lumbar spine disk herniation since late April. He’s played in 24 games for the Mets, slashing .224/.327/.329 with two home runs and two steals. The Mets will likely trey to get Robert Jr. in the lineup often over the next two weeks to help facilitate a trade. That could cost A.J. Ewing at bats in the short-term or, perhaps more likely, one of the extra outfielders could slide to DH with Jorge Polanco heading to the bench.

The Mets are being careful to ease Polanco back into full-time action following his extended stay on the injured list. Juan Soto will serve as the team’s designated hitter in his place on Sunday while Brett Baty draws a start in right field and will bat eighth against Phillies’ right-hander Alan Rangel.

It appears to just be a routine day off, though Polanco could see less than a full share of at-bats going forward if he’s limited to DH duties. Francisco Alvarez is DHing this afternoon after catching last night. Polanco is 2-for-8 with an RBI in his first two games back from an extended IL stay.

Polanco returns to New York’s infield picture for the first time since April 14. He’s at DH and hitting sixth against the Royals on Tuesday night. The 33-year-old veteran will provide some stability at first base after battling an Achilles issue for the last few months which has limited him to just 14 games this season. The hope is that he’ll be able to manage the ongoing issue and avoid surgery until the offseason.

Polanco returns to minor league game action for the first time since April 14. The 32-year-old veteran is attempting to play through a lingering Achilles issue and is likely to require a couple weeks of rehab contests to get back up to speed. He’s been limited to just 14 games in his Mets debut due to injury.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza reiterated that there’s no official timetable for Polanco to return at this stage in his rehabilitation process. The 32-year-old infielder has been dealing with lingering Achilles issues since the start of the season and has been on the injured list since early April. It seems unlikely he’ll make it back to New York until after next month’s All-Star break.

The procedural move opens up a spot on New York’s 40-man roster for waiver claim Zack Short. Polanco has been battling a lingering Achilles issue since early April and was pulled off a minor league rehab assignment over the weekend. The original belief was that he could manage the issue for the remainder of the season, but surgery to address the Achilles issue seems like a potential outcome at this stage.

Polanco was supposed to play again Saturday after going 0-for-2 with two walks for Triple-A Syracuse on Friday, but either player or team decided that was a bad idea. He’ll be reevaluated in New York.