Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Jeff McNeil will start a rehab assignment this weekend, Luis Rojas revealed at a press conference before Tuesday’s game.

McNeil has been out since May 16–the same day as Michael Conforto–with a hamstring injury. It was reported last week that McNeil was progressing quicker than Conforto and that his rehab assignment could start as early as this week.

Should McNeil’s rehab progress well–and that’s a big SHOULD, given the amounts of setbacks rehabbing Mets have faced–he could return to the lineup by the end of June. The Mets will be in the middle of a 32-games-in-31-days stretch at that point, and he’d provide much-needed reinforcements to the infield and lineup.

Prior to his injury, McNeil was off to a slow start to the season–by his standards–with a .242/.336/.374 slash line. He was starting to heat up before the injury, though, with a .806 OPS through 43 at-bats in May.

Now let’s run through some other notes from the press conference:

  • Luis Guillorme will play seven innings in Triple-A with Syracuse Tuesday, and the Mets expect him back on the active roster as soon as this weekend.
  • Albert Almora, Jr. is confirmed to start his rehab assignment tonight, he’s batting leadoff and playing CF for Syracuse.
  • Michael Conforto is participating in baseball activities, but is “a few weeks away” from a rehab assignment.
  • Rojas praised Dominic Smith‘s play in left field, noting he’s getting more comfortable there with each series. Statcast’s Outs Above Average has Smith at -2 over 65 attempts for the year–a number just below average. He had -2 OAA all last season in left field in just 21 attempts. He’s certainly improved.
  • Rojas also noted how David Peterson needs to throw strikes with his primary stuff. He said they generally know in the first or second inning which David Peterson they’re getting for the night–the one who will go six or seven innings, or the one who will need to get pulled early.
  • José Peraza will likely practice playing positions other than second and third base to help with versatility come the second half of the year.

The Mets play the Orioles Tuesday night in Camden Yards, and Pete Alonso will be the designated hitter. James McCann will man first base, and Rojas said he feels comfortable playing him there. Jonathan Villar returned to the starting lineup, too.

Check out the lineup below.