Montas is playing catch but has yet to get on the mound as he makes his way back from a strained lat, so he’s still probably at least five or six weeks away from making his Mets debut.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters that Montas has begun throwing from 60 feet away. The right-hander will likely need a few bullpens and multiple rehab appearances before he’ll be ready to rejoin the Mets’ rotation at some point late in the spring, and that’s assuming no setbacks.

The Mets hope to have Montas back throwing in the first half of April and are aiming for a return to the rotation in late May or early June.

It’s a brutal blow for both Montas and the Mets. Montas will head to New York for a PRP injection now and hope the injury heals with time. Given Montas’ injury history, it would be likely that the Mets play it safe and shut him down closer to that eight-week mark, which means Montas won’t begin throwing again until the middle of April. It will take him time to ramp back up from that point, and the Mets will then want him to face live hitters in the minors for a few starts since he will have missed all of spring training. As a result, it would be safe to assume that we won’t see Montas on the mound for the Mets until June.