Shaun Marcum, who has yet to pitch for the New York Mets this season, could return to the mound as early as next Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies.

On the disabled list with nerve inflammation in his neck and shoulder, Marcum will throw 70-75 pitches in a rehab outing on Monday.

"Shaun's getting ready," Terry Collins said. "When he gets here, probably 90, 95 pitches would be max for him, his first start. But the kind of pitcher he is, you look up and 90 pitches and he's in the seventh inning, because he's a guy who pitches to contact. He's not a strikeout guy, he's a ground-ball guy. But again, we'll wait to see how he comes out of tomorrow."