Juan Soto dodged a bullet.
The Mets star provided his team with yet another injury scare after fouling a ball off his right foot and leaving Wednesday’s 3-2 win early, but he’s “day to day,” according to Carlos Mendoza in a massive sigh of relief for the organization.
The manager added that X-rays came back negative.
Soto, who missed about three weeks in April with a right calf strain, hobbled away from the batter’s box and kneeled in pain after the moment occurred against the Tigers in the bottom of the third inning.
Though he managed to finish his at-bat — and returned to the plate once more in the sixth inning — his night was noticeably cut short an inning later as Mets fans held their collective breath.
“I was concerned as soon as he got hit,” Mendoza said. “We went out there, and you could tell that he was in pain. And then just that second at-bat didn’t look right.”
Soto’s exit took place as he was due to come up with two outs and runners on the corners, with MJ Melendez replacing him. That inning ended soon after when eventual walk-off hero Carson Benge was caught stealing home.
Soto finished the night 0-for-3 at the plate with a strikeout, though the mood will be positive after his minor prognosis and the Mets’ 3-2 win.
Soto’s injury scare came mere hours after Mendoza announced Francisco Alvarez would be undergoing surgery for a torn right meniscus — and with starters Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. all out injured as well.
The Mets also lost Ronny Mauricio to a left thumb fracture shortly after calling him up from Triple-A Syracuse, as they’ve been consistently undermined by injuries in their efforts to undo their difficult start to the season.
For now, though, it appears they can exhale when it comes to Soto’s health, with Mendoza even refusing to rule him out of Thursday afternoon’s series finale against Detroit.
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A win in that contest would give the Mets their first series sweep of the season and give them some much-needed momentum heading into the Subway Series.
