Juan Soto expects to play again this season, telling reporters Monday that a Grade 2 calf strain will not end his 2026 season.
That confidence runs ahead of his own club’s timeline, with the New York Mets still gathering additional medical opinions and no return date attached to an absence that could stretch into September.
“100 percent,” Soto answered when asked whether he would appear in another game this year, as quoted by MLB.com reporter Anthony DiComo. The outfielder offered no timetable, saying he will handle the rehab day by day and trusting that his 27-year-old body heals faster than most, ESPN‘s Jorge Castillo reported.
Soto Injury Leaves Mets Without Only All-Star
The Mets placed Soto on the 10-day injured list on July 25 after an MRI found the Grade 2 strain in his left calf. He had left the previous night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the sixth inning, having already drawn two walks, when the leg locked up on him.
The trouble had been building for more than a week. Discomfort surfaced during a July 16 game in Philadelphia, and the Mets responded by parking Soto at designated hitter and sitting him for a game in Milwaukee.
“It’s not what we were hoping for,” interim manager Andy Green said, according to The Associated Press. Green added that Soto’s recovery projects to run longer than the roughly three weeks Soto lost to a right calf strain in April.
Three weeks is the floor, not the target, according to SNY‘s Colin Martin. Grade 2 strains typically demand four to six weeks, pushing any realistic return toward late August at the earliest.
Green has rejected the idea that Soto is finished for the year, noting the damage is milder than the calf injury that cost Francisco Lindor nine weeks. New York expects him back in September, according to Amazin’ Avenue‘s Allison McCague, though the Mets sat at 43-61 and out of the race when he went down.
Soto was hitting .283/.408/.539 with 21 home runs in 84 games as the franchise’s lone All-Star.
The calf strains bookend a season of small breakdowns. Soto missed 15 games from April 4-21 with the right calf injury, as reported by ESPN, and has also dealt with a foot problem, an illness, back tightness and elbow and hand ailments since. He had not been placed on the injured list at all between 2021 and this spring.
Juan Soto’s Massive Contract With New York Mets
Soto signed for 15 years and $765 million in December 2024, the richest contract in the history of American team sports at the time. The deal carries a $75 million signing bonus, no deferred money and an average annual value near $51 million, according to CBS Sports.
The salary schedule pays him $46.875 million this year, dips to $42.5 million in 2027, returns to $46.875 million for 2028 and 2029, then settles at $46 million annually through 2039. Soto can opt out after 2029. The Mets can cancel that opt-out by adding $4 million to each of the final 10 years, lifting the total to $805 million.
Roughly $596 million to $643 million of guaranteed money remains on the deal, according to contract tracker Spotrac. Thirteen more seasons are attached to a player who cannot currently push off his left leg.
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