NEW YORK -- Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said Sunday that he¡¯s unlikely to play without back pain again this season, but he continues to progress toward a return that could occur as soon as Tuesday in Atlanta.

¡°If I play this year, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be pain-free,¡± Lindor said after the Mets' 2-1 win over the Phillies. ¡°And I¡¯m OK with that. I just don¡¯t want it to be a constant pain where I can¡¯t bend over. Then I put my teammates in a position where I¡¯m not helping them as much as I can. That¡¯s not fair for anybody.¡±

Lindor took batting practice for a second consecutive day on Sunday, but it was an abbreviated session that he chalked up to hitting his ¡°threshold¡± for discomfort in his lower back.

¡°Every day I¡¯m pushing it to the limit, and today I hit that limit, and then I just felt like that was enough,¡± Lindor said. ¡°The goal is to come in every day and work as hard as I can to reach that limit that the trainers ¡­ want me to hit. And then we go from there. Today, I got to that threshold. So it was another day, another slow step in the right direction.¡±

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Since injuring his back during a Sept. 13 game in Philadelphia, Lindor has played a total of one inning. He returned two days after suffering the injury but aggravated it that night and shut things down. He hasn¡¯t appeared in a game since, and he said Sunday that his pain was initially severe enough that he ¡°couldn¡¯t really walk¡± and was ¡°rolling out of bed.¡±

Last Thursday, Lindor received a facet joint injection into his spine, which was designed to relieve his symptoms. While the injection ¡°definitely made [the pain] a little bit more mild,¡± Lindor said, ¡°it didn¡¯t fully take it away.¡±

¡°I feel it,¡± he added. ¡°It¡¯s definitely there.¡±

Still, Lindor has described this mostly as a pain tolerance issue, giving him hope that he can return this season -- perhaps sooner rather than later. He is not ruling out a return as soon as Tuesday in Atlanta, where the Mets open a key three-game series against the defending National League East champion Braves.

Asked if he is certain he¡¯ll return in the regular season, Lindor replied: ¡°I¡¯m optimistic that I¡¯m going to play. I have faith. I believe in the Lord. And I believe in what the trainers are doing. ¡­ I¡¯m doing everything I can day in and day out to try to be in a position where I can get back and play. I want to be there as much as anybody.¡±

Prior to his injury, Lindor was challenging Shohei Ohtani for the National League MVP Award. He remains one of the NL¡¯s most productive players despite his extended absence, with a .271/.342/.494 slash line, 31 homers and 27 stolen bases in 148 games.

Mitigating Lindor¡¯s absence is the fact that rookie Luisangel Acu?a has thrived since his call-up, slashing .379/.400/.828 with three home runs, two doubles and one triple in nine games. Acu?a has served as the Mets¡¯ everyday shortstop over the past week and credits Lindor for helping ease his transition to the Majors.

But the Mets understand they are a better team with their MVP in the lineup.

So far, Lindor has run, thrown, taken ground balls, hit on the field and tracked pitches in the bullpen. Although he hasn¡¯t run the bases or faced live pitching since his injury, Lindor said that won¡¯t necessarily stop him from returning as soon as he¡¯s physically able to do so.

¡°We all play with pain,¡± Lindor said. ¡°I think players would be lying if they said, ¡®Oh, I feel 100 percent.¡¯ ¡­ At the end of the day, we¡¯ve just got to make sure we¡¯re in a good spot where we can play."