Why Jorge Polanco feels confident about Mets return despite pain that’s not going away

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The Mets cleanup hitter and starting first baseman Sunday was Eric Wagaman, whom they had designated for assignment last month.

It was yet another reminder of the difficulties of this season, particularly at a position that the Mets had not worried about for the previous seven years.

Jorge Polanco, their primary replacement for Pete Alonso, has played 14 games and Saturday began his second attempt at a rehab assignment that he feels more confident about than the first.

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After lasting just six minor league games in late May and early June before his ankle soreness became too severe to continue, Polanco again played with Triple-A Syracuse and logged three at-bats (0-for-3 with a strikeout) in another first step — and it is just a first, with a return not imminent — he believes went well.

“I think I’ll be able to return because my leg just feels stronger,” Polanco said through interpreter Alan Suriel from Citi Field before the Mets lost 5-4 to the Phillies. “I’ve put more of a workload in there. But I’ve also been able to recover properly.”

Polanco originally landed on the injured list in mid-April with a right wrist contusion, an issue he says is fully behind him.

But he also had been bothered by Achilles bursitis in his right ankle, which has not gone away and which he and the Mets believe will not go away this season.

“There’s still pain there, but it’s a pain that I feel like I can tolerate,” said Polanco, a 13-year veteran who has dealt with myriad injuries. “I’m in a position right now where my ankle does feel good enough to go out there and play.”

The next step is to begin logging games and at-bats, if not defensive appearances for a player who likely will solely serve as a designated hitter whenever he is ready.

Interim manager Andy Green said there is no firm timeline for Polanco to return, as the club needs to see how his ankle responds.

Polanco, who was signed to a two-year, $40 million pact, acknowledged his own situation and his team’s “doesn’t feel good.”

“The expectations were high. The team as a whole has not played up to our capabilities,” Polanco said. “Also, no one wants to be injured. From that aspect, it hasn’t been a good feeling.

“But at the same time, you have to go out and continue to be positive and try to turn the tide.”

Clay Holmes expects to graduate from flat ground to mound work sometime next week.

The righty, who fractured his fibula May 15, had a follow-up X-ray on Friday that showed “everything checked out,” Holmes said.

Typically, starting pitchers need a full six weeks of work to fully build up, but Holmes said he does not think it will take that long because his “arm feels great,” and he has been throwing consistently.

“It’s just kind of just seeing how the ankle responds,” said Holmes, who had been the club’s best and most reliable starting pitcher. “If there’s any fatigue in it, how it’s handling the throws, the high-intensity throws. … You have to be sure that you’re not compromising the way you throw.”

Tyrone Taylor returned from the injured list, playing his first game since May 25, and went 2-for-2 with a run scored.

The loudest ovation of the afternoon was for OG Anunoby, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch to José Reyes.

Reyes had become the Knicks forward’s favorite player because he was the cover athlete on “Major League Baseball 2K8,” a video game he played often as a child.

Steve Cohen told a fan on X that he would “be speaking soon,” though when remains unknown.