The New York Mets have an injury concern for their best player, and one of the game’s best, just eight games through the regular season. On Friday night, superstar left fielder Juan Soto was removed from the game after the first inning and was replaced by Tyrone Taylor.
Soto’s injury, which the Mets later described as “right calf tightness,” occurred when he ran from first to third. More specifically, according to Soto, he felt some “tightness” when he stepped on second base. He was seen pulling up at third base in some level of discomfort.
Following the Mets’ 10-3 victory against the San Francisco Giants, Soto was nowhere to be seen in the clubhouse. That’s because the 27-year-old had left the stadium.
Mets Receive Injury Update on Juan Soto
Soto underwent an MRI exam on Saturday and received positive news. When asked what the exam revealed, Soto called it a “minor calf strain.” Despite the good news, the Mets have not yet eliminated the option of an injured list stint.
Juan Soto left the game after running the bases in the first inning pic.twitter.com/R2JJ3uE7Lh
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) April 4, 2026
“[We’re] going to see how [the calf] feels. Definitely no decision has been made yet,” Soto said. “We’re going to see how I wake up for the next couple days and go from there.”
To Soto, the results came back as a shock. He didn’t expect any news — even minor.
“I feel way better than yesterday,” Soto said. “I definitely feel really good, and [to see] what came out of the MRI was surprising to me.”
The Plan for Soto and the Mets
With a scheduled off-day on Monday, the Mets will further evaluate Soto once the team returns to New York from their seven-game road trip, and will likely make a decision then on whether or not an IL stint is needed. For now, the club is listing him as day-to-day.
Soto, who wasn’t in the lineup on Saturday, will receive treatment from the trainers in the meantime.
“I don’t think we’re going to run or anything like that, but we’re going to see how much strength I have and how much I can push off [the calf],” Soto said.
Over 34 plate appearances, Soto has hit .355/.412/.516 with one home run in the early stages of the 2026 campaign. The superstar’s hot start has been a bright spot within an inconsistent Mets offense.
Throughout his entire career, Soto has been very durable. Over the 2021-25 seasons, Soto played in 783 of a possible 810 games, and he hasn’t been on the injured list since 2021, when he missed time because of a shoulder strain.
Soto has had a calf strain before — in his left foot — which was back in 2022 when he was with the Washington Nationals.
Despite the results from the MRI, Soto and the Mets continue to say he is both physically and visibly in good shape.
“Surprisingly, when I saw [Soto] earlier, the way he’s walking around, just the attitude itself, he seems to be in a really good place,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
“Give it 48, 72 hours, see how he continues to progress,” Mendoza said. “Again, I was surprised when I saw him today, the way he was moving around, but they’re tricky. We’ll wait, we’ll continue to call it day-by-day until we have to make a decision.”
Main Photo Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
