SAN DIEGO — Juan Soto is out of action in San Diego, but it seems he may have dodged a bullet.
The Mets‘ star right fielder left Tuesday night’s game against the Padres with a right foot contusion in the middle of the fourth inning. With the Mets down 1-0 at Petco Park and Soto leading off against right-hander Ryan Bergert, he got an 0-2 slider inside and fouled it off to keep the at-bat alive, but it hit the top of his right foot and he hopped out of the batter’s box in obvious discomfort.
Soto limped down the first base line trying to shake out his foot while the trainers came out from the visitor’s dugout. After consulting with them, he was allowed to stay in the game and finish his at-bat. He eventually grounded out to second base, and when he ran, he couldn’t push off his foot without pain.
There is considerable optimism after x-rays were negative for breaks or fractures.
“I think it’s going to be good,” Soto said. “We’ve just got to get the swelling down. Whenever it slows down, I think we’re going to be fine. I mean, the x-rays are negative, so it’s a good sign, we’ve just got to wait for the swelling to come down and go back to work.”
The Mets replaced him in the outfield in the bottom of the inning, moving Jeff McNeil from center field to right, and inserting Tyrone Taylor into center field for the half-inning only. Starling Marte pinch-hit for Taylor in Soto’s spot in the fifth and played right field for the fourth time this season. It was only the sixth time the veteran outfielder got into the outfield this year.
Soto was 0-for-2 on the night, and 0-for-6 with a run scored in the series.
“Not a good feeling, especially when you watch him go down like that and looks like he’s a lot of pain there,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “Then he hits that ball and he looks uncomfortable running down the line. First thing the trainer is telling him, ‘I’ve got to go out there and I gotta take x-rays here. So you’re kind of just holding your breath there. Once I got the news, obviously there was a sense of relief there.”
The 26-year-old has proven to be especially durable throughout his eight-year big league career. He hasn’t been on the injured list since 2021 when he strained his right shoulder. A member of the Washington Nationals at the time, he went on to win the NL batting title that season. Two years ago, he played all 162 games for the Padres.
Last year, Soto missed a handful of games with forearm inflammation in his left arm, and a bruised right hand. So far this season, his first with the Mets, he’s missed only one game, which was a scheduled day off. A player who takes immense pride in showing up and playing every day, Soto still tried to fight his way into the lineup on his day off earlier this season, but the Mets insisted he sit out.
The NL Player of the Month in June, Soto is hitting .249 with an .875 OPS and 25 home runs. He leads the NL in walks with 84, and has stolen a career-high 15 bases this year in 16 tries.
Luisangel Acuña played the bottom of the eighth in center field and McNeil went back to right. With a glut of young infielders and still more needing open spots in the minor leagues, the Mets are reportedly listening to offers on Acuña and Mark Vientos. They’ve looked into trading McNeil in the past, ultimately opting to keep the versatile defender.
McNeil had some challenging plays in center field Tuesday night, playing there for the third straight game. He wasn’t able to keep Fernando Tatis Jr. from advancing to third on a deep fly in the first inning, and he couldn’t get to a shallow single in the seventh, when the Mets gave up five earned runs in a 7-1 loss. However, he was able to make a sliding stop on the ball to keep in front of him to prevent the lead runner from advancing past second.
Should Soto end up out for an extended period of time, McNeil could get some looks in right field as well.
“Not an easy situation, but that’s what allows me to make a lot of moves in-game,” Mendoza said. “We saw it today, center, right, then center, then you’ve got that ability to come into the infield. So it says a lot about who he is as a player and his willingness to do whatever it takes.”