Mets place Juan Soto on 10-day injured list with Grade 2 left calf strain
Mets' Juan Soto walks against the Los Angeles Dodgers during at Citi Field on Friday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
If nothing else, this Mets season has been an object lesson in the idea that things can always get worse.
And Saturday, they did.
With a little more than a week until the Mets’ trade deadline fire sale, the team Saturday announced that Juan Soto sustained a Grade 2 left calf strain that is more significant that the right calf strain that cost him three weeks of the season in April.
Soto was placed on the 10-day injured list and infielder Eric Wagaman was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse.
Interim manager Andy Green said “at this point in time” the Mets do not believe the injury to be season ending.
“We’ll have some more people look at this, get a better handle on how long this will be and, at this point in time, I’m not going to get more definitive on a timeline than (I’ve already) given on a basic parameter perspective,” Green said. “I know he’s disappointed to not be on the field with us tonight and for the weeks ahead.”
The slugger had been nursing calf issues for a week, and the Mets had be cautious — balancing rest with Soto’s own desire to be on the field.
“It is possible we could have looked back and we could have moved a little bit quicker on this?” Green said. “Given where we’re at today, yes. I don’t know that that ultimately changes the situation we’re in right now.”
Soto has by far been the Mets greatest offensive highlight, slashing .283/.408/.539 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs, and leads the National League in on-base percentage and OPS. Typically durable, he missed 20 games so far this season after never having played fewer than 150 games a year, save for the COVID season and the rookie year where he got called up in May. Francisco Lindor, also something of a baseball iron man, also missed significant time with a calf strain earlier this year — something not lost on Green or the franchise.
“It’s a frustrating set of circumstances,” Green said. “Definitely something we’ll reflect on and see if something jumps out. At this present moment, it feels unlucky to a degree, and it hasn’t been the same mechanism for each player. . . . We look at every injury. My experience with our medical and training staff is that they’re reflective and they look at ways to improve in every situation.”
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
