Mets manager Carlos Mendoza hit on a few topics before Thursday night’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field.

IL possible for Jorge Polanco

The Mets have been very cautious with Polanco since the recent flare-up of his Achilles tendinitis, using him mainly as a designated hitter, but the possibility that the 32-year-old still lands on the injured list remains... possible.

"It is a possibility that we get to a point that we need to give him a break," Mendoza said about the IL. "It's fluid. We'll see what we got."

Asked if the injury was something they are going to have to deal with indefinitely, Mendoza said, "It's hard to tell."

"There's days when he comes in, and he feels really good, and he goes out there and do a little bit of defensive work," the manager said. "And then there's days where he feels it more.

"We're watching it closely here. And see what happens."

The switch-hitting Polanco is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against Arizona left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez and is being considered day-to-day, Mendoza said, adding that he was feeling it. He had served as the DH in the first two games of the series – going 2-for-8 – and had started the last four games for the Mets.

Juan Soto hitting, playing catch

Soto hit on Wednesday in the cages at Citi Field and played catch, Mendoza said, adding that he is doing “better” after landing on the IL earlier this week with a calf strain.

“But, again, not gonna be running,” the skipper did caution. “But the fact that he’s hitting in the cages and playing catch, just trying to keep him with baseball activities."

Mendoza said he didn't yet have an idea of when Soto might start moving his legs around.

"I know they're doing a lot inside with treatment and in the weight room, a lot of exercises there," he said. "As far as the running goes, we still gotta wait.

"But he's good when he's taking swings, when he's playing catch."

Francisco Lindor’s early-season slump

Mendoza said Lindor’s slow start to the season – 7-for-47 with three extra-base hits, zero RBI, and a 77 wRC+ – is not related to lingering effects of hand surgery during spring training and not something the manager is too concerned about.

“The injury had nothing to do here, he’s fine,” Mendoza said, adding that Lindor is typically a slow starter to the season and pointed to last year being the only one in his career in which he had a good month of April.

But on the encouraging side, the manager said he’s seen a lot of bad luck for Lindor.

“Honestly, there’s been a lot of balls that he’s hit hard that just right at people,” he said. “He’s an aggressive hitter, he’s gonna go out there and he’s gonna swing. He’ll get out of it, he’ll be fine.”

Tobias Myers’ bullpen role

Myers entered the season as a bullpen arm for the Mets, a reliever who had experience as a starter and somebody they wanted to stretch out for longer outings.

But in his three outings since his 39-pitch, 3.0-inning appearance on Opening Day, he hasn't gone more than 30 pitches and two innings and is getting more high-leverage opportunities.

Mendoza said they are comfortable with him throwing up to 45 pitches and in some smaller windows, too.

“He’s built up for that,” the manager said. “If we need to use him for one inning, high-leverage, we will.”

Mendoza added that having him stretched out further is “not something as of right now that we’re looking at, ‘oh, when we use him we gotta get him all of his pitches.”

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