Mets fans, get ready to celebrate—A.J. Minter is inching closer to a big league return. The veteran left-hander made his second rehab appearance in three days on Sunday afternoon, tossing a scoreless inning for Triple-A Syracuse. It's a promising sign for a pitcher working his way back from lat surgery, and it shows he's building the durability needed to rejoin the bullpen.

This was Minter's fourth outing with Syracuse and his eighth overall in the minors, having also pitched at Low-A and High-A earlier in his rehab. So far, the results have been impressive: a 2.25 ERA over four innings for Triple-A and a sparkling 1.17 ERA across all levels. In 7.2 total innings, he's struck out four batters and posted a microscopic 0.78 WHIP—numbers that suggest his stuff is sharpening up nicely.

After Minter's previous outing on Friday, the Mets made it clear they wanted to see him pitch twice in three days before deciding on his next step. With Sunday's clean inning in the books and no setbacks, the team should be feeling confident. There's still one box left to check, though: Minter has yet to appear in back-to-back games during his rehab, and he hasn't thrown more than one inning in any outing. While he's not typically asked to go multiple frames with the big league club, proving he can handle it would be a nice insurance policy.

When Minter does finally return to New York, it'll be fascinating to see how the Mets deploy him. He signed a two-year, $22 million deal before the 2025 season with the expectation of being the primary setup man. Right now, Luke Weaver holds that role, while Devin Williams anchors the ninth inning as closer. Both have had their share of struggles this year, so Minter's return could provide a welcome boost to a bullpen that's been searching for consistency.