Mets injury updates: Paul Blackburn, Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas

First, Blackburn (knee) will make another rehab start on Wednesday and the goal is for him to reach 80 pitches. If all goes well, Mendoza says the Mets will have a decision to make with Blackburn afterwards. The Mets can either go to a six-man rotation or use Blackburn in a long relief role once he is activated from the IL.

Blackburn has made five rehab starts so far, posting a 5.63 ERA across 16 innings of work. The Mets acquired the veteran right-hander from the Athletics at the trade deadline last summer.

as for Manaea (oblique), the left-hander will throw a bullpen on Wednesday with an up-and-down, per Mendoza. Manaea was shut down from throwing in April due to suffering a setback. The good news is that he is responding well to his ramp up period. Manaea was initially expected to return by late-April, but a June timeline appears to be realistic due to his previous setback.

Last but not least, Montas (lat) continues to progress well in his rehab. According to Mendoza, Montas is set to throw another live BP with two-ups on Wednesday in Brooklyn. Montas has been sidelined since the first official week of spring training back in late-February. Like Manaea, Montas should be back some time in June.

With this trio of arms on the mend, the rich will only get richer as the Mets' current starting rotation has performed well to this date. Led by Kodai Senga, Clay Holmes, Griffin Canning, David Peterson and Tylor Megill, the Mets' starting staff holds a 2.85 ERA as a group, the best mark in the National League.