Mets OF Brandon Nimmo is taking the final step in his road back from injury, joining Triple-A Syracuse as he continues his rehab assignment, SNY's Andy Martino reports.
The 26-year-old Nimmo has been out since May 21.
Nimmo (back) began his rehab assignment with High-A St. Lucie last week and played two games there -- serving as the DH on Aug. 16 and playing the outfield on Aug. 18. St. Lucie was off on Monday.
Mets manager Mickey Callaway said before Tuesday night's game that there is no set number of games that Nimmo is expected to play in Triple-A, noting that they will rely on him to tell them when he feels ready at the plate and in the outfield.
Nimmo had been struggling before hitting the IL -- hitting just .200/.344/.323 with three homers and seven doubles in 43 games -- but he was also playing hurt for most of that time.
With Nimmo already having advanced to Triple-A during his rehab, it seems there is at least a chance he will be activated by Friday when the Mets begin a series against the Braves at Citi Field.
If Nimmo doesn't have any setbacks, the Mets could be getting him and Jeff McNeil (eligible to return from the IL on Saturday) back around the same time, though McNeil's return could be delayed slightly if he needs to play rehab games first.
When Nimmo and McNeil return, the Mets will be close to full strength and be able to use McNeil at second base while going with J.D. Davis, Nimmo, and Michael Conforto in the outfield from left to right.
The above alignment would allow the Mets to shift Juan Lagares back to the bench, where he can serve as a late-game defensive replacement along with the recently-promoted Rajai Davis, who can also be utilized as a pinch-runner.