Mets’ Juan Soto wasn’t in touch with team while on IL despite horrific losing streak

Whatever the case may be, winning can cure teams of a lot of issues. Adding Soto’s bat back into the lineup gives the Mets a better chance to end this dismal stretch of play and start winning again.

“One of the best players in the game,” Mendoza said. “When I was making out a lineup last night, just to be able to put his name in there, he just gives you a different look. But again, it’s going to take all of us to get out of this. It’s not just Juan Soto.”

Soto was hitting .355 with a .928 OPS at the time of his injury, with one home run, five RBI and three walks. The No. 2 hitter, he hit behind Bo Bichette instead of Francisco Lindor on Wednesday with the Mets shuffling the lineup to try to bring life to a moribund offense. Soto was used as a DH, with the plan for him to play left field Thursday against the Twins. The training staff will then reassess with him heading into the weekend series against the Colorado Rockies.

While he says his calf is 100% healthy, the Mets don’t sound quite as sure. The club is being cautious with its $765 million outfielder. Instead of rehabbing in minor league games, the Mets brought minor league pitchers over from Brooklyn to throw to him. Without testing his calf in rehab games, the Mets feel they need to be extra careful.

“We need to be flexible and we have to stay on top of things with him,” Mendoza said. “If we see that there’s couple of games, 2-3 games where there’s a lot of running, [where he’s getting] on base, going first to third, first to home, second to home, or in the outfield, then we will have to adjust.

“Hopefully, that’s the case that he’s on base, and we’re scoring a lot of runs.”

In 2019, Soto was on a Washington Nationals team that went from 12 games below .500 to 24 games above .500. The Nats never spent a day in first place in the NL East, yet still made the postseason as a Wild Card team, eventually defeating the Houston Astros to win the franchise’s first World Series. Soto was only 19 for most of the season, turning 20 just five days before the clinching game. He says he learned a lot from a group of veteran players that year.

“Things [were] things that we can do here,” Soto said. “Things I can bring to the table and see if the guys like it.”

As for what those things are, Soto isn’t saying.

“Those are my secret things,” he said.

Soto may only be a band-aid for the Mets. The issues appear to run deeper.