NEW YORK — New York Mets slugger Juan Soto was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a left calf strain that's expected to sideline him for at least three weeks and probably more.
The five-time All-Star underwent imaging that revealed a grade 2 strain, interim manager Andy Green said.
Soto missed 15 games from April 4-21 with a right calf strain and the Mets went 3-12 without him — losing their last 12 games during that stretch.
“Anticipation is right now it’s going to take longer than last time,” Green said before Saturday night's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. “He was about three weeks last time, so it’s a little more significant than last time. It’s not what we were hoping for. He’s a guy we love having on the field. He's a guy who loves being on the field competing. We’ll be without him for a period of time.”
But at this stage, the Mets are uncertain about anything more specific.
“We have more people looking at the MRI right now,” Green said. “It’s quick and a bit presumptuous to define an exact timeline. With our organization we just check in with experts, not just in house but across the world for these types of things. So we’ll have some more people look at this, get a better handle on how long this will be and at this point in time, not going to get any more definitive on a timeline.”
The injury to Soto is the latest setback in a miserable season for the last-place Mets (43-61), who were minus star shortstop Francisco Lindor from April 23 to June 23 because of a left calf strain.
Soto walked twice against Los Angeles Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki during Friday night's 4-2 loss at Citi Field before being replaced by pinch-hitter Jorge Polanco in the sixth inning with the score tied at 1.
After the game, Green said Soto felt discomfort pushing off when running to second base. He had been nursing the nagging injury since returning from the All-Star break last week.
Soto is hitting .283 with 21 homers, 52 RBIs and an NL-best .947 OPS in 84 games this season. He sat out Wednesday's 4-3 loss at Milwaukee but was back in the lineup Friday after the Mets had a day off.
The lone All-Star for the last-place Mets this year, Soto exited the team’s first game after the break in the eighth inning on July 16 at Philadelphia. New York was off the following day, and he returned to the lineup as the designated hitter on Saturday and Sunday against the Phillies. He played left field Monday in Milwaukee and was the DH on Tuesday.
“Someone like him wants to be on the baseball field. He wants to play,” Green said. “And the desire to be on the field is why he’s so special in what he does. So this last week we gave him at-bats, we gave him rest at times when we felt were appropriate, and then yesterday he couldn’t get over the hump."
To replace Soto on the active roster, the Mets recalled corner infielder and outfielder Eric Wagaman from Triple-A Syracuse. Wagaman was hitting .162 with two homers and four RBIs in 21 major league games this season.
Next step for Holmes
Clay Holmes will throw a bullpen Sunday. The right-hander allowed two runs over 2 1/3 innings and threw 51 pitches Thursday in a rehab start for Triple-A Syracuse and is expected to pitch again next week in the minors.
Holmes has been on the injured list with a broken right leg since he was hit by a line drive off the bat of New York Yankees rookie Spencer Jones on May 15.
Holmes is 4-4 with a 2.39 ERA in nine starts this season and appears likely to get traded before the Aug. 3 deadline.
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A previous version of this story corrected Soto’s batting average and removed an incorrect reference to Bo Bichette grounding into a double play in the second inning Friday night.
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