Soto will go for an MRI on Saturday to gauge the severity of his injury.
“I think anytime you get an image, you’re concerned,” interim manager Andy Green said. “You’re concerned enough to go do it. So we’ll wait until [Saturday] and figure out what we’re dealing with.”
Before the game, Green acknowledged that the outfielder’s calf was still bothering him, but not enough to keep him out of the lineup. For that reason, Soto started at DH despite not having played the outfield since Monday.
Rather than dissipate, however, the injury is lingering for Soto, who initially complained of calf soreness during a July 16 game in Philadelphia. Though Soto returned to the lineup two days later for the Mets’ next game, he sat out the series finale in Milwaukee on Wednesday. On Friday, he felt discomfort in his calf pushing off first base early in the game.
“We certainly hoped we were behind it and done talking about this,” Green said. “I know it’s frustrating for him, frustrating for us.”
This is a separate injury from the right calf strain that sent Soto to the injured list for two and a half weeks in April.
The Mets’ lone All-Star, Soto was batting .283/.408/.539 with 21 homers in 84 games at the time of his latest departure.
Should Soto miss time, the Mets would likely proceed most days with an outfield of A.J. Ewing in left, Luis Robert Jr. in center and Carson Benge in right -- at least until or unless the Mets deal Robert, a candidate to be moved before the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline. Jorge Polanco would assume the lion’s share of DH reps in Soto’s absence.