Lindor plays full rehab game at shortstop, nearing Mets return

Francisco Lindor cleared the biggest rehab checkpoint the Mets could ask for, playing a full nine innings at shortstop for Syracuse and coming through with his legs and glove intact. He went 0-for-4 with a walk, scored a run and stole a base in the Syracuse Mets’ 5-3 win over the Norfolk Tides at NBT Bank Stadium, and he left another strong sign that his return to Queens is close.

The most important number was not the hit total. It was nine innings. Lindor had already shown he could handle six innings at shortstop Friday in his first rehab game for Double-A Binghamton, but Sunday was the test that mattered most because it asked his left calf to survive a full game of traffic, pivots and throws. He turned at least one double play and handled several chances cleanly, the kind of defensive workload the Mets needed to see after he landed on the injured list April 23 with a strained calf suffered while running the bases in the previous night’s win over the Minnesota Twins.

That timing makes the next step obvious. MLB.com listed Lindor’s expected return as possibly June 24, and the Mets had him tentatively lined up for a simulated game June 22 before a rest day. Whether the club chooses one more rehab game or a controlled simulated workload, the point is the same: Lindor is no longer in the early stages of a comeback. He is at the stage where the Mets are checking for response, recovery and repeatability, not just first-step ability.

That is a major deal for a club that has spent weeks patching together the left side of the infield without its everyday shortstop and lineup anchor. Lindor’s activation would restore a premium defender in the middle of the diamond and a switch-hitting bat that lengthens the order in a way few Mets can. It would also pull one of the roster’s most important pieces out of the rehab lane and back into the daily lineup.

Sunday’s Syracuse lineup also included fellow Mets rehabbers Ronny Mauricio and Tyrone Taylor, a reminder that Triple-A has become the temporary staging ground for several major-league pieces. Syracuse finished the first half at 38-37, and after this stretch of rehab duty the club heads to Lehigh Valley for a six-game road series beginning Tuesday. For Lindor, though, the real series has already shifted back toward New York, where the Mets are waiting for a shortstop who looks increasingly ready to play every day again.