Juan Soto injury update: Mets slugger expected to return to lineup on Wednesday

The New York Mets, losers of 11 straight, are expected to activate Juan Soto and have him back in the lineup for Wednesday night’s game against the Minnesota Twins, manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday. Soto has not played since suffering a right calf strain on April 3.

Mendoza said Soto would go through a full day of baseball activity Tuesday and he’ll be back if all goes well.

“It definitely helps, but we cannot put all the pressure on one player,” the manager said. “We’ve got a lot of good players in there who, unfortunately, are going through it for quite a bit now. Yes, his presence in the lineup, nobody is going to deny that. But putting all the pressure of ‘oh, we have Juan Soto now and all of a sudden we’re going to start winning,’ that’s not fair for him either.” 

The Mets won their first three games without Soto, but have since lost the last 11 games. They averaged 4.38 runs per game with him in the starting lineup and just 2.64 runs per game without him. Nine times in the 14 games without Soto, the Mets scored two runs or fewer. It has been a major slog, offensively.

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Soto’s absence alone doesn’t explain the skid — the Mets have a lot of underperforming players — but his return will boost the offense and perhaps spark the team. They certainly need it. Soto authored a .355/.412/.516 batting line before his injury and he still leads their position players in WAR.

The 27-year-old Silver Slugger hit .263/.396/.525 with 43 home runs and 38 stolen bases last season, his first with the Mets. That earned him a third-place finish in the National League MVP voting. Soto joined the Mets on a record 15-year, $756 million contract in December 2024.

On the pitching side of things, the Mets are also calling up Christian Scott, who has been out since July 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, Mendoza announced. Scott will start Thursday and David Peterson will remain in the bullpen, where he was shifted last rotation.

The Mets have the National League’s worst record at 7-15. No team in baseball history has lost 15 of their first 22 games and rallied to post a 90-win season.