The MRI confirmed what everybody at Citi Field already felt in their stomach. Juan Soto has a left calf strain, and the Mets put him on the 10-day injured list Saturday, recalling infielder Eric Wagaman from Triple-A Syracuse to fill the roster spot.
Soto left Friday night’s 4-2 loss to the Dodgers in the sixth inning when Jorge Polanco pinch-hit for him. He had drawn walks in both plate appearances and run the bases without anything obvious jumping out on camera, but interim manager Andy Green said afterward that Soto felt the calf grabbing on a push-off toward second base. The thing had been nagging him for a week already.
“He just had a recurrence of symptoms in the left calf,” Green said. “We certainly hoped we were behind it and done talking about this, but he felt it pushing off going to second base. This has nagged him for a week now. We know it’s frustrating for him, frustrating for us and everybody.”
The Mets sat Soto for Wednesday’s series finale against Milwaukee, banking on Thursday’s off day to flush the problem. He came back Friday as the designated hitter. That bought them about three innings.
This is the second calf strain Soto has dealt with in 2026. He missed roughly three weeks in April with a right calf strain, and has also fought through back soreness and cramping in the left calf at various points. Both legs have now betrayed him, and the Mets have no reason to rush him back. They are 43-61, 18.5 games behind the Braves, and 18 games under .500. The Aug. 3 trade deadline is bearing down on them like a pulling guard, and president of baseball operations David Stearns is expected to sell.
Through 84 games, Soto is hitting .283 with 21 home runs, 52 RBIs, 63 walks, and a .947 OPS. He was the Mets’ lone All-Star. His 163 wRC+ means he’s been producing runs at a rate 63 percent above league average — on a team that entered Saturday ranked 27th in baseball in runs scored, 26th in batting average, 28th in on-base percentage, and 25th in slugging. Take the one guy who can hit off a roster that can’t, and you’ve got a recipe for some long evenings in Queens.
Soto is in the second year of the 15-year, $765 million contract he signed before the 2025 season. The money isn’t going anywhere. Neither is he. But the Mets’ competitive window for 2026 has already been boarded shut, and letting a calf strain fully heal matters a lot more than squeezing a few more August at-bats out of a player owed through 2039.
Wagaman, the corresponding roster addition, has appeared in 28 games for the Mets this season with a 68 wRC+ — meaning he’s been 32 percent below league average at the plate. He has DH’d and played both corner outfield and corner infield spots. He’s a body, not a replacement for what just walked out of the lineup.
Without Soto, Green will lean harder on Luis Robert Jr., Carson Benge, Tyrone Taylor, and A.J. Ewing in the outfield. Soto’s absence also gives the front office a cleaner look at trade candidates like Polanco and Robert as the deadline closes in. The Mets play the Dodgers again Saturday night at 7:15 EDT on Fox.
