{"id":663751,"date":"2026-04-05T01:04:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T01:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/663751\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T01:04:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T01:04:27","slug":"mets-juan-soto-has-minor-calf-strain-but-avoids-injured-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/663751\/","title":{"rendered":"Mets’ Juan Soto has ‘minor’ calf strain but avoids injured list"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO – Somehow, in what\u2019s best described as an unexpected development, Juan Soto<\/a> emerged from the MRI tube Saturday and was not placed on the injured list, which meant one of two things.<\/p>\n

Either Soto has superhuman healing powers, and the \u201cminor\u201d calf strain — his words — that the scan revealed will patch itself together enough for him to return to the lineup in a few days.<\/p>\n

Or the Mets are merely delaying the inevitable, and with Monday\u2019s off-day in New York, plan to re-evaluate his condition with the very likely possibility of then backdating an IL stint.<\/p>\n

Both of those options still seemed to be in play when Soto addressed reporters before Saturday\u2019s game against the Giants, though the latter appears to be more realistic. The only rock-solid certainty was that Soto was unavailable that night, which was only 24 hours after suffering the injury. But neither he nor manager Carlos Mendoza would rule out him being a factor — in some fashion — for Sunday\u2019s series finale, as doubtful as that might be, based on conventional wisdom.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s impressive from what we saw in the images, because I feel way better than [Friday],\u201d Soto said. \u201cI definitely feel really good, and to see what came out in the MRI, it was surprising to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soto went on to say he was \u201cfeeling almost completely normal\u201d Saturday morning, which had to be encouraging for the Mets. But they also can\u2019t pretend the calf strain isn\u2019t there, and being extra cautious with their $765 million slugger is a logical approach, particularly when dealing with a calf injury that can lead to more serious complications.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of mixed feelings here, because he\u2019s got that mild strain, right?\u201d Mendoza said Saturday afternoon. \u201cWhen I saw him earlier, the way he\u2019s walking around, just the attitude in itself, he seems to be in a really good place.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s a tricky area there. We\u2019re going to have to be really, really careful with him. The good news is how he\u2019s feeling and the feedback that we\u2019re getting from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The safe decision in these situations is to just put the franchise player on the IL for 10 days and let the injury fully heal without the risk of re-aggravation or becoming more severe. That way there\u2019s no second-guessing. For Soto\u2019s part, he sounds confident that he can avoid the IL — but not convinced.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really positive because I feel really good,\u201d Soto said.<\/p>\n

The Mets thought they already were dealing with some adversity during this bumpy start to the 2026 season. But now comes the hard part if — when? — they have to navigate the next 10 days or so minus Soto, the team\u2019s most irreplaceable player. Should the Mets decide to go the IL route, the earliest Soto could return would be April 14 against the Dodgers, the middle game of that three-game showdown in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Bo Bichette was moved up to Soto\u2019s vacant No. 2 spot in the lineup, with Jorge Polanco — sidelined Friday by his Achilles issue — hitting cleanup as the DH. Jared Young started in leftfield. If Soto winds up on the IL, Mendoza said he would prefer to keep Carson Benge in right and have Brett Baty slide over to left instead.<\/p>\n

The fact that Soto was removed so quickly from Friday\u2019s game suggests the Mets will continue to be just as cautious going forward. In the first inning, after Soto\u2019s single extended his hitting streak to all eight games this season — the longest active one in the majors — the problem occurred when he hustled from first base to third on Bichette\u2019s RBI single.<\/p>\n

Rounding second base, Soto noticeably slowed up as he headed cautiously into third. He remained in the game, however, and was last seen crossing the plate after being retired on Brett Baty\u2019s 1-2-3 doubly play back to the mound.<\/p>\n

The Mets were able to shake off Soto\u2019s stunning departure Friday, thanks to Francisco Alvarez\u2019s two-homer night, Marcus Semien\u2019s three RBIs and Nolan McLean\u2019s five perfect innings. But finding a way to make up for Soto\u2019s missing production on a regular basis would obviously be a Herculean task.<\/p>\n

Soto already was off to a quick start, and showed no signs of last season\u2019s April doldrums in hitting .355 (11-for-31) after Friday\u2019s single with a .928 OPS. It was somewhat ironic that Soto injured himself running as he was coming off a career year using his legs, when he stole 38 bases — more than triple his previous season-high total (12).<\/p>\n

That added a new dimension to Soto\u2019s generational talent, and helped him earn another third-place finish for MVP, in consecutive years, after doing the same with the Yankees in 2024. But it\u2019s not Soto\u2019s base-stealing acumen that the Mets are worried about.<\/p>\n

As the team\u2019s No. 2 hitter, Soto occupies the most critical spot in the Mets\u2019 lineup, where he brings his unique ability as a relentless on-base machine with lethal power. Not only can Soto deliver leadoff man Francisco Lindor with one swing, he\u2019s also perfect to set up Bichette, who was targeted this winter for his high success rate with runners in scoring position.<\/p>\n

Even with Soto, the Mets had struggled as a whole offensively, scoring a total of 14 runs in the six games leading up to Friday. Also, they already were down another potent bat when Polanco\u2019s troubling Achilles condition kept him out of the lineup for the second time in four games. If there\u2019s one reason for the Mets to be encouraged, however, it\u2019s the way many of their previously slumping players responded Friday with a season-high 15 hits, including three homers, in the 10-3 rout at pitcher-friendly Oracle Park.<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

\n\tDavid Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball’s Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO – Somehow, in what\u2019s best described as an unexpected development, Juan Soto emerged from the MRI…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203],"class_list":{"0":"post-663751","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mets","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-mets","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkmets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116349415023425654","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}