New York Mets slugger Juan Soto says he expects to play again this season, even after being placed on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain.
“Yeah, 100 percent,” Soto said Monday when asked about returning this season, two days after being put on the IL.
The five-time All-Star landed on the injured list for the second time Saturday after imaging revealed a grade 2 strain. The injury is expected to sideline him for longer than the 15 games he missed with a strained right calf in April.
“We’re just taking it week by week, day by day,” Soto said before the opener of a three-game series with Atlanta. “We’re trying to see how I feel. Definitely I’m young enough to recover quick. So we don’t know how I’m going to feel tomorrow, the next day.”
Mets interim manager Andy Green said the plan is to get Soto completely healthy before discussing a timeline for his return.
“We think the timelines line up that there’s enough of a season left that it’s worthwhile to get one of your best players back on the field and go win baseball games,” Green said.
(Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images)
Soto walked twice against Los Angeles Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki during Friday night’s 4-2 loss at Citi Field before being replaced by pinch-hitter Jorge Polanco in the sixth inning with the score tied at 1.
Soto is hitting .283 with 21 homers, 52 RBIs and an .947 OPS in 84 games in his second season with the Mets. He sat out Wednesday’s 4-3 loss at Milwaukee, but was back in the lineup Friday after the Mets had a day off.
“We were expecting something because I was definitely going through a lot,” Soto said. “I was in a lot of pain, but I just kept pushing.”
The lone All-Star for the last-place Mets this season, Soto left the team’s first game after the break in the eighth inning on July 16 at Philadelphia. New York was off the following day, and he returned to the lineup as the designated hitter on Saturday and Sunday against the Phillies. He played left field last Monday in Milwaukee and was the DH on Tuesday.
“I’m trying to go out there and help my team to win ballgames, so whatever it takes,” Soto said. “Sometimes it’s tough. We were hoping that it goes the other way and I get better and healthier and I could keep going.”
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
The Mets (44-62) are 4-13 during Soto’s injured list stints. Because of a left calf strain that cost Francisco Lindor two months, the Mets have had their shortstop and Soto in the lineup for 28 games this season.
If Soto returns, the Mets’ roster could look different with the Aug. 3 trade deadline approaching.
“We never expected to be in this kind of spot by now,” Soto said. “I always trusted that we had the talent to turn it around and to compete this year.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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