Already mired in last place despite a Major League-high $328 million payroll, the New York Mets got some more bad news on Saturday as Juan Soto was placed on the 10-day injured list.
Diagnosed as a left calf strain, the injury will keep New York’s most productive hitter out of the lineup for the next four-to-six weeks, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman.
‘Well,’ one beleaguered Mets fan wrote on X, ‘time to watch another sport.’
Soto’s injury appeared to occur as he ran the bases in Friday’s 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who were fresh off their White House visit.
Days earlier, President Donald Trump took a swipe at the Mets amid their disappointing season as he stumped for Republican Senate candidate Mike Collins in Georgia.
‘The Mets have the highest salary in baseball, and they lose all the time,’ Trump told the crowd outside Atlanta, where former Braves manager Brian Snitker was on hand.
Diagnosed as a left calf strain, the injury will keep New York’s most productive hitter out of the lineup for the next four-to-six weeks, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman
Trump gives the tomahawk chop next to Braves executive Mike Plant, center, and Brian Snitker
Now in the second season of his 15-year, $765 million deal with the Mets, Soto has remained productive since coming over from the crosstown Yankees. In 84 games, the 27-year-old has 21 home runs and a National League-best .947 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage).
Unfortunately for Soto and Mets fans, the rest of the team’s bats have failed to materialize in 2026. New York ranks 28th in the majors in on-base percentage and 25th in slugging percentage. As a result, only three teams have scored fewer runs than the Mets this season.
The Mets are just 3-12 without him this season, but despite this, fans are ready to put him on the shelf until 2027.
‘Absolutely zero reason for [Soto] to take another [at bat] this year,’ one cautious Mets fan warned on X.
Another fan added: ‘You break down fast when you’re the only one doing something on the team.’
