Bo Bichette out of Mets lineup again due to right ankle soreness

Bo Bichette was out of the lineup for a second straight game Saturday as Mets interim manager Andy Green said the third baseman was dealing with “right ankle soreness” after taking several foul balls off his leg while the Mets were in Atlanta.Bichette was healthy enough to pinch hit for Zack Short with two on and one out in the bottom of the seventh of Saturday’s 4-0 loss to the Red Sox at Citi Field.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.

He walked to load the bases before being removed for pinch runner Tyrone Taylor.Green said Bichette was best used simply as a pinch hitter.He could also sit Sunday as the team heads into the All-Star break.“It’s a day-to-day thing,’’ Green said before the game.“He’s played through a lot.

The guy is a warrior.”Bichette has had an inconsistent season with the Mets after signing with the team in the offseason, but had been heating up recently.In Atlanta, Bichette went 8-for-18 with a double over the four-game series.But in three games since then, Bichette was just 2-for-13 before being held out of the lineup Friday and Saturday against the Red Sox.Still, after opening the season with a .570 OPS in his first 61 games, Bichette put up an OPS of .870 in 33 games heading into Saturday.With Bichette on the bench, the Mets used Brett Baty at third base again Saturday.Baty went 0-for-3 with a walk to snap his career-long hitting streak at 10 games.Marcus Semien is “nearing a rehab assignment,” Green said before Saturday’s game.

Semien has progressed well after being sidelined with a left hip-flexor strain since June 25.Complicating matters is that the upcoming All-Star break will make minor league rehab games harder to find.

Green, who was the team’s senior vice president for player development until taking over in the dugout, said he’d be hesitant to play Semien — or any other player — in a Florida Complex...