Carlos Mendoza reveals next step for Luis Robert Jr. as Mets continue to ease him in

The Mets officially have the next step penciled in for Luis Robert Jr's progression. 

The new outfielder will have to wait a bit longer to make his orange and blue spring training debut, but he is scheduled to work his way into minor league games next week.

"March 4, he's going to play minor league games," Carlos Mendoza revealed Saturday. 

"He's getting a ton of at-bats, I think he's one of the guys who is up to 50 live at-bats already, but before we put him in the settings where he's running the bases and playing defense, we're going to start him in the minor leagues."

New York, of course, has been playing things safe with the oft-injured outfielder in the early-going in an effort to keep his legs as healthy as possible heading into the regular season. 

The skipper expects him to play the field and be a full-go for that March 4 appearance. 

It remains to be seen exactly how many minor league games he'll play before working his way into the Mets' lineup, but it's certainly encouraging to see Robert taking that next step. 

SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes said Friday that the slugger has been putting on a "laser-show" each day against some of the Mets' regular arms in live BP and simulated games. 

He launched two homers off new Mets reliever Luke Weaver on the backfields on Saturday.

A healthy and productive Robert could be a big-time difference-maker for this revamped lineup.