The most tangible glimmer of hope for the Mets on Monday occurred hours before they attempted to snap an 11-game losing streak.
Juan Soto, out since early April, sprinted from home to first base, then from first to third before running from second to home, simulating different baserunning scenarios.
Meanwhile, manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed Soto — pending any last-minute setbacks — is expected to return from his right calf strain Wednesday.
That meant the Mets opened their three-game series against the Twins and their nine-game homestand at Citi Field with some peace of mind, knowing their $765 million outfielder — one of their only productive hitters before sustaining the injury in San Francisco — was set to return to the lineup. Questions remain about how they’ll balance his time in the field and at designated hitter. But the desperate Mets need a jolt, and Soto’s presence alone will be tasked with providing just that.
“It definitely helps,” Mendoza said pregame, “but we cannot put all the pressure on one player. We got a lot of good players in there that, unfortunately, they’re going through it for quite a bit now. Yes, his presence in the lineup — nobody’s going to deny that. But putting all the pressure, ‘Oh we’re gonna have Juan Soto now’ and all of a sudden you start winning, that’s not fair for him either.
“But adding him to the lineup will definitely help.”
Soto, who logged 160 games last season during his first year in Queens, hasn’t played during the losing streak.
When he injured his calf running from first to third April 3, the Mets were hovering around .500. He was hitting .355 with a .928 OPS, and the Mets managed to overcome his absence with three consecutive wins at first.
But then the losing streak began.
The Mets were outscored 62-19 entering play Monday. Everyone in the lineup largely stopped hitting, failing to maximize at-bats the way Soto often does.
One year after finishing third in National League MVP voting, Soto had already collected 11 hits and launched a homer in just eight games.
All it took for a return was one more day of full baseball activity — hitting, defense, running the bases, all of it — for Soto that served as his final test.
He didn’t require a rehab assignment, but the Mets were still cautious with his return, trying to ensure that they won’t lose their superstar again to the same injury. That approach will continue even after he officially gets activated.
“We’re gonna have to manage that,” Mendoza said of Soto’s workload. “We still have a decision here whether we want to DH him [Wednesday] and then play in the outfield, or if he goes and plays the outfield [Wednesday], he’s gonna have to DH. We’re not gonna play him back-to-back, 18 innings at least, on the field. So he’s gonna need days off as well, but hopefully [Wednesday] is just the beginning of it with him in the lineup and then we’ll go from there.”
But the placement of Soto in the field isn’t the most pressing concern facing the Mets. They have a manager on the hot seat and a president of baseball operations whose offseason decisions are all backfiring. They entered Monday with the franchise’s longest losing streak since 2004. Their rotation has struggled. Their bullpen has struggled. Their lineup has struggled. Everything that could possibly go against the Mets seemingly has.
If they have any chance at fixing their sinking season, they need things to start going in their way. And for one night, that was the case with Soto and his looming return.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
