NEW YORK -- Juan Soto ticked off his list of ailments in a matter-of-fact manner: “The hand, calf, elbow, everything.” The start of the season has not been kind to Soto, who landed on the injured list back in April and hasn’t quite been 100% since.
Soto did manage to provide Friday’s lone bright spot for the Mets, who lost a game to the Yankees, 5-2, and, more important, lost starting pitcher Clay Holmes to a broken bone in his leg. But even that silver lining -- Soto’s 250th career homer -- was shrouded in a sizable cloud.
Three innings before hitting No. 250 at Citi Field, Soto grimaced when he swung and missed at a Cam Schlittler cutter. He said afterward that his right wrist, which has ailed him for at least the past week and a half, was the culprit. Manager Carlos Mendoza said that it bothers Soto mostly when he swings and misses.
Yet as Soto put it: “We’re still going. I definitely feel great when I’m out there, but it is what it is.”
As if to prove his words, Soto took Schlittler over the left-center-field fence in the seventh inning, becoming one of only seven big leaguers to amass at least 250 homers and 95 stolen bases before age 28. The other six are all legendary names: Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., Mickey Mantle, Mike Trout, Frank Robinson and Andruw Jones.
“It means a lot,” Soto said. “A lot of hard work I’ve been putting in every year, coming to play hard to get success to help my team. So it’s really cool to see it.”
Soto’s homer could not give the Mets the Subway Series beginning they wanted, however, even with their momentum heading into the weekend -- wins in eight of their previous 12 games. His litany of ailments might ensure that things remain difficult in the near-term future.
Early this season, Soto was plenty hot, batting .355 with a .928 OPS over his first eight games. But in the eighth of them, back on April 3, Soto strained his right calf running the bases in San Francisco and missed 2 1/2 weeks. The Mets operated carefully with their $765 million man upon his return, using him exclusively at DH for a time.
Earlier this week, right as those restraints were loosening, Soto fouled a ball off his right ankle, which cost him the final three innings of Wednesday’s game against the Tigers. He was already experiencing wrist discomfort by that point. There’s also an elbow issue, which he referenced after Friday’s game but did not elaborate on.
Although he downplayed his ailments, any physical issues are concerning for Soto, widely considered one of the top three sluggers in the Majors. They are certainly concerning for the Mets, who have nearly half their Opening Day starting lineup -- Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr. and Francisco Alvarez -- on the injured list. None of them, with the possible exception of Polanco, has much chance to return in the coming weeks.
Only Soto knows how much these aches and pains are truly affecting him. From May 3-13, Soto hit just .118 with a .449 OPS. He has since shaken off that slump to homer in consecutive games.
“Every time he makes contact, there’s no issues there,” Mendoza said. “It’s just the swing and miss that he felt something, but it’s nothing that we’re worried about there.”