The New York Mets lost outfielder Juan Soto to a calf injury on Friday night, but it looks like a short-term injury.
The New York Mets lost outfielder Juan Soto early in Friday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants, but they dodged a bullet after Soto’s MRI yesterday indicated that he’ll basically be day-to-day going forward.
Henry Schulman of MLB.com described the injury as a “mild calf strain,” but manager Carlos Mendoza said the news from the MRI was “mixed," which was the bad news part of the equation. The MRI revealed a mild strain, which surprised Soto because he was feeling much better yesterday morning.
Mendoza was more cautious, however. He said he couldn’t believe how well Soto was walking yesterday when he saw him, and it sounds like the Mets are going to stick to a timeline of 48-72 hours to see how he responds to treatment before they insert him back into the lineup, which makes sense given how tricky calf injuries can be. The manager also didn’t rule out a short stint on the injured list.
There may be some conflict between what the team wants and what Soto wants, and in situations like that the star outfielder almost always wins.
“I’ve experienced calf tightness before,” Soto said. “This is definitely not the worst I’ve felt. So I feel positive with that.”
Soto also added that the injury feels “kind of similar” to the calf injury he sustained with the Washington Nationals back in 2022, according to Sculman, but that injury was to the opposite calf. He added that he felt his right calf “grab” as he hit second on a Bo Bichette single when he was going from first to third.
The outfielder reported the injury to the medical staff, and Soto was removed from the game immediately when he was forced out at home in the first leg of a double play on a ground ball to the pitcher by Brett Baty.
“I was surprised when I saw him today, the way he was moving around,” Mendoza said. “But the calf is tricky, so we’ll wait.”
The manager said that Brett Baty will get most of the starts in left while Soto is out, but that may change given the offensive display by Tyrone Taylor last night as he took Soto’s place. Jared Young is also filling in in the outfield, and rookie Carson Benge took a turn in center yesterday as the Mets juggled outfielders.
Yesterday’s continued offensive breakout makes this much easier for Mendoza to handle, and he also added that no call-ups are expected since new signee Tommy Pham isn’t ready for outfield duty yet.