Mets' Kevin Pillar might return within a week, Rojas says

Twelve days after getting hit in the face with a 95-mph fastball, Mets outfielder Kevin Pillar is doing baseball activities and progressing quickly enough that manager Luis Rojas said he could return within a week "or even less than that."

Pillar has been sprinting, playing catch, taking batting practice indoors and standing in on bullpen sessions to track pitches, which improves his chances of being activated without needing a minor-league rehabilitation assignment.

Throughout, Pillar also has been testing a face mask, "just to see if he could play with one," Rojas said.

"He’s tested it out on the field, running, fielding, the vision, the peripheral vision, too, with a fly ball when he has an outfielder closing distance on him," Rojas said. "So they’re doing different tests if he can wear it out on the field when he’s playing defense."

All this is ahead of the schedule the Mets publicly laid out for Pillar. He had surgery to repair a broken nose four days, instead of about a week, after the incident with Atlanta reliever Jacob Webb. And he started doing baseball activities at least a few days ahead of the initially expected 10 to 14 days after the operation.

"He feels good, he’s looked good," Rojas said. "He’s just looked better and better each day."

Ozuna arrested

Atlanta outfielder Marcell Ozuna, on the IL with two broken fingers, was arrested in Georgia on Saturday and charged with aggravated assault by strangulation (which is a felony) and misdemeanor battery - family violence.

Pitching plans

Jacob deGrom will start for the Mets on Sunday against Atlanta, weather permitting.

That bumps David Peterson, originally slated for Saturday, back to Monday.

Trainer’s room

Pete Alonso (right hand sprain) has a "big chance" of returning from the injured list without a rehab assignment, Rojas said. The team did not discuss bringing Alonso back Saturday, the first day he was allowed, according to Rojas, who stressed that Alonso passing tests over the weekend will be an important factor.

The Mets expect to activate Seth Lugo (right elbow bone chip surgery) on Monday, the first day he is eligible to come off the 60-day IL.

Jeff McNeil (left hamstring strain) took a few grounders Sunday, on the warning track next to the Mets’ dugout since the tarp was on the field.

Vax facts

Sixteen major-league teams have reached the 85% vaccination threshold, MLB and the MLB Players Association announced Friday. An additional three have had enough people get their shots and will be at 85% when the two weeks pass.

The Mets are not among either group, Rojas said. Team president Sandy Alderson said May 5 that the Mets were at 77%.

"We can call it a work in progress," Rojas said. "I’m not disappointed at the group. It’s something I hope the team gets to, so we have a little more normalcy around here."

Extra bases

To make room for starter Taijuan Walker, who returned from the injured list, the Mets sent righthander Yennsy Diaz to Triple-A Syracuse . . . J.D. Davis and Brandon Nimmo (finger, hand injuries) will need rehab assignments before returning. They are still at least several days away from that.