The New York Mets are off to a fine start to the season, going 6-4 in their first ten games. But they experienced a scare during last Friday's contest against the San Francisco Giants, when star left-fielder Juan Soto was replaced on the field going into the bottom of the first inning. Evidently, Soto felt something in his right calf while running from first to third in the top half of the inning, and the Mets opted to remove him from the game so as not to take any risks with their $765 million man.
Soto underwent MRI testing on his leg on Saturday morning, and did not appear in any games over the weekend. On Monday morning, the Mets announced the results of the MRI: Soto has a right calf strain, which will move him to the 10-day injured list, with infielder Ronny Mauricio getting the call from Triple-A Syracuse to take his place on the major league roster.
In their official announcement, the Mets noted that "a typical return to play for this type of injury is approximately 2-3 weeks", providing an optimistic timeline for the length of Soto's absence.
However, teams tend to give the best-case scenario when it comes to injury timelines, and any kind of muscle strain can be finicky in its recovery, so Mets fans should prepare for the possibility that Soto could be absent for longer than the presented timeline.
Soto, still just 27 years old, was performing within his career norms through his first eight games of the season, which is to say that he was dominating at the plate. Through 34 plate appearances, the slugger had 11 hits and a .928 OPS, picking up right where he left off in 2025.
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2025 was Soto's first season with the Mets after signing a historic 15-year, $765 million contract with the team, and he played exactly as expected. Across 160 games, Soto clubbed a career-high 43 home runs, drove in 105 runs and stole a career-high 38 bases, finishing third in National League MVP voting.
In 2026, however, Soto's chances of playing 160 games are already dashed with Monday's injury news. Soto's production is irreplaceable, but the Mets have a bevy of talented bats who can lessen the impact of his absence if they play to their potential.
Once one of the top prospects in their organization, Mauricio, who is 25 years old, will likely spend the majority of his time on the bench while on the major league roster. Outfielders Jared Young and Tyrone Taylor are likely to see considerably more playing time in Soto's absence.
