The Mets’ starting rotation could be back to nearly full strength in just a few weeks, but there are questions about what right-hander Frankie Montas will look like when he finally makes his long-awaited season debut.

Montas will make two more rehab starts, including one Friday night with Triple-A Syracuse, before the Mets activate him off the injured list. In four starts so far, the veteran righty hasn’t posted great numbers, allowing 12 earned runs on 16 hits over 12 innings (9.00 ERA), with two starts in High-A and two in Triple-A. Montas has allowed six home runs, walked eight hitters and struck out nine.

However, from the Mets’ perspective, numbers aren’t necessarily the best determination of what Montas is capable of doing. With the lat strain occurring so early during spring training, his rehab starts are essentially the equivalent of spring training games. Pitchers use early spring training games to work on specific pitches and situational aspects of the game before moving on to things like sequencing and execution in preparation for the regular season.

“I think he’s still feeling his way back,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said Friday. “This was a fairly significant lat injury. He did a good job working through his progression, and I think he’s still searching a little bit. So we’ve got another one tonight, and then we’ll have another one, likely, I think next week. And those are two big, big outings for him.”

One of the reasons the Mets signed Montas to a two-year, $17 million contract over the winter was because of his health in 2024. After making only nine starts with the Yankees from the middle of the 2022 season to 2023, he was able to make 30 starts and pitch 150 2/3 innings in 2024 for the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers. His injury history naturally leads to more questions about his health, especially at 32.

The Mets have quickly become known for their ability to take injury-riddled pitchers and pitchers who have underperformed with other teams and turn them into All-Star caliber arms. They did it with Luis Severino last season, who made all of his starts with the Mets. Sean Manaea was a good example of this as well before he tweaked an oblique during spring training.

Still, with the success the pitching group has had in converting Clay Holmes to a starter and getting Griffin Canning to go from a 5.00+ ERA pitcher to one with a 3.22 ERA nearly halfway through the season, the Mets are confident they can work their magic on Montas as well.

“They have good stuff, they’ve had success at the major league level, and maybe there are things that they got away from, or maybe there were things that we noticed that we’ve helped them get a little bit better at,” Stearns said. “But the underlying commonality among all of them is that they’re talented. They’ve come in here and they’ve worked hard, and for the most part, we’ve had some decent results out of it.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Center fielder Jose Siri had a setback in his recovery from a fractured tibia. New imaging showed the bone has not healed as the Mets had expected, which will require Siri to “back off” baseball activities. Siri has been hitting outside, going through a running progression and taking outfield jumps for about a month with the hope of returning by the end of the month. That timeline is no longer possible, and Stearns did not give an updated target date.

Tyrone Taylor will continue to get the bulk of the innings in center field, with Jeff McNeil seeing time there as well.

Outfielder/DH Jesse Winker (strained oblique) isn’t any closer to a return either. Stearns said Winker is still “weeks” away from a rehab assignment.

However, there is good news on the bullpen front for the Mets. They could get another leverage left-hander down the stretch if Brooks Raley continues to progress through his rehab from ulnar collateral reconstruction surgery at the current rate. Raley is currently throwing to hitters and could get a minor league rehab assignment as soon as next week.

The Mets won’t rush him back. Given the nature of the surgery the lefty underwent last April, Stearns expects them to use all 30 days allotted for a rehab assignment. But it could alleviate the need for the Mets to find a left-handed reliever at the trade deadline.

Currently, Jose Castillo is the only southpaw in the ‘pen, with A.J. Minter (lat surgery) and Danny Young (Tommy John surgery) both out for the season.