ATLANTA — Frankie Montas might not have posted the best numbers during his minor league rehab stint, but with injuries to two starters and now long reliever Max Kranick, the Mets need the right-hander now more than ever. Despite some mechanical issues during his minor league assignment, the Mets plan to insert him into the rotation during the next homestand.

The team has not decided when he’ll make his 2026 debut yet, but it will likely be against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field next week.

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“Look, you know, we need starters here,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Thursday at Truist Park. “We signed him to be a starter for this team and we want to give him a chance.”

Montas strained his lat during spring training, so given the timing of the injury, the Mets have equated his rehab starts to spring training starts, which can often be rocky as pitchers attempt to build up their pitch counts and work on specific situations, such as throwing from the stretch or windup, and holding runners on base.

Results aren’t measured in hits and runs allowed in those games until the end of spring training. But Montas has given up a few too many runs to ignore, posting a 13.19 ERA over seven starts between High-A and Triple-A (21 earned runs over 14 1/3 innings). He gave up eight home runs, hit two batters and walked six for a 2.23 WHIP.

Wednesday night, he went through the order once without giving up a run, but then gave up a three-run homer in the fifth inning. He went five innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out two, throwing 80 pitches.

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“I’m not going to lie, he got hit,” Mendoza said. “He got hit around, but look, we’ve seen it before where guys struggle in spring training and they get hit around, then once you put them on a big league mound under the lights, and you game plan and make adjustments, they flip the switch.”

The Mets could use Montas for a few innings to start next week, then piggyback him with a long man like right-hander Justin Hagenman, who was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday to start Friday in Philadelphia, has been used to eat bulk innings once already this season.

“It’s not like we want to run him for 90 pitches right away,” Mendoza said. “We’ll wait until he makes a start, we’ll watch him closely and we’ll be smart about it. So I’ll have to talk to the whole group and [decide] some type of a pitch count.”

Hagenman was set to start Friday night in Philadelphia against the Phillies, but the Mets used him out of the bullpen Thursday night. Mendoza was hoping to avoid using him, but was unable to do so after the Mets went down 7-1 in the bottom of the sixth. They’ll now have to find another pitcher to start Friday.

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Hagenman is 0-2 with a 6.21 ERA in 10 games (six starts) with Triple-A Syracuse, but allowed only one earned run and struck out four in 3 1/3 innings in his one Major League appearance this season.

The 32-year-old Montas was signed to a two-year, $34 million contract in December, with a player option for 2026. A former Yankees starter who spent most of his tenure in the Bronx dealing with a shoulder injury, the Mets were intrigued by what he was able to do the second half of 2024 with the Milwaukee Brewers, when he went 3-3 with a 4.55 ERA in 11 starts.

Much like with Luis Severino and Sean Manaea last year, and Griffin Canning this year, the Mets thought Montas would be a good fit for their pitching program. Though the Mets don’t like the term “reclamation project,” the club’s pitching infrastructure, led by pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, has shown an ability to help turn veteran arms into frontline starters.

They’re confident they can achieve that with Montas.

“He’s had success before at this level, so hopefully that’s the case here,” Mendoza said. “This is a guy that pretty much treated this rehab process of spring training and got hit around. But again, we believe in the player, and we want to give him a chance.”