NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mets slugger Juan Soto expects to play again this season, even after being placed on the injured list with a left calf strain.“Yeah, 100%,” Soto said Monday when asked about returning this year.The five-time All-Star landed on the 10-day injured list Saturday for the second time this season after imaging revealed a grade 2 strain. The injury is expected to sideline him longer than the 15 games he missed with a strained right calf in April, but there is no definitive timeline yet for his return to the last-place Mets.“We’re just taking it week by week, day by day,” Soto said before the opener of a three-game series with Atlanta. “We’re trying to see how I feel. Definitely I’m young enough to recover quick. So we don’t know how I’m going to feel tomorrow, the next day.”Mets interim manager Andy Green said the plan is to get the 27-year-old Soto completely healthy before discussing a timeline for his return.
“We think the timelines line up that there’s enough of a season left that it’s worthwhile to get one of your best players back on the field and go win baseball games,” Green said.Soto had been nursing the nagging calf problem for about a week before he left Friday night’s game against the Dodgers in discomfort. He walked twice against Los Angeles starter Roki Sasaki during a 4-2 loss at Citi Field before being replaced by pinch-hitter Jorge Polanco in the sixth inning with the score tied at 1.
