NEW YORK — The New York Mets finally had something to celebrate Wednesday night as superstar Juan Soto returned from injury to help end their devastating 12-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Twins.
Soto, who had been sidelined since April 3 with a right calf strain, was activated from the injured list and contributed immediately, going 1-for-3 with a single and a walk while serving as the designated hitter.
“He looked really good,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
But the joy of Soto’s comeback was quickly overshadowed when shortstop Francisco Lindor suffered what appeared to be a similar injury, leaving the game in the fifth inning with left calf tightness. Lindor is scheduled for an MRI Thursday.
“Here we go again,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got to wait and see what we’re dealing with.”
The four-time All-Star received an enthusiastic welcome from fans when he stepped into the batter’s box in the first inning, with portions of the small crowd rising to their feet. Though he flew out to center field, his deep drive allowed Bo Bichette to advance from second to third base, setting up the game’s first run when Bichette came home on Lindor’s two-out infield hit.
Soto’s night included a lineout to right field in the third inning, a walk in the fifth, and a single in the eighth before being caught stealing while attempting to take second base.
“I don’t think it’s going to be any pressure,” Soto said before the game. “I’m just going to be myself and be out there, definitely help as much as I can to get out of this and put the team in the right spot again.”
The slugger has now recorded hits in all nine games he’s appeared in this season. He also made history by becoming the first major league player to draw 900 walks before his 28th birthday.
“It makes a big difference just to add his name in the lineup. But also, I said it yesterday: You can’t put all the pressure on him,” Mendoza said. “It’s going to take all of us to get out of this. It’s not just Juan Soto.”
To make room on the roster, the Mets sent third-string catcher Hayden Senger to Triple-A Syracuse after Tuesday’s 5-3 defeat to Minnesota.
Despite starting the year with baseball’s highest opening-day payroll at $352.2 million, the Mets entered Wednesday with the worst record in the majors at 8-16. During their losing streak, which began April 8 with a 7-2 loss to Arizona, New York was outscored 67-22 while managing just a .194 batting average and .284 slugging percentage. The 12-game skid marked their longest since August 2002.
“I feel like we have a great lineup. We have guys who are going through tough times right now. They can’t get a hit or anything, and it’s part of it. We all go through that stuff,” Soto said. “But it’s tough when kind of like most of the lineup is going through it. It makes it a little hard to win games like that.”
The team plans to ease Soto back into action gradually. He’s expected to play outfield Thursday night, after which the organization will “reassess,” according to Mendoza. The six-time Silver Slugger Award winner will receive complete rest days as needed going forward.
“We need to be flexible and we have to stay on top of things with him,” Mendoza explained. “If we see that there’s a couple of games, two or three games where he does a lot of running on base, going first to third, first to home, second to home, in the outfield, then we’ll have to adjust. And hopefully that’s the case. That means he’s on base and we’re scoring a lot of runs. So, yeah, I think it’s fluid. But at the same time we just have to be smart with him.”
Soto’s injury occurred during a 10-3 victory over San Francisco on April 3, when he hurt himself running from first to third on Bichette’s RBI single. The Mets managed to win their next three contests without him before falling into their lengthy slump.
“It’s a little uncomfortable when you see it from the outside,” Soto said. “It’s just a tough time, but we’re going to get out of it.”
The outfielder is in year two of his record-breaking $765 million, 15-year deal signed as a free agent in December 2024. Before his injury, he was hitting .355 with one home run and five RBIs.
Rather than completing a minor league rehabilitation assignment, Soto prepared for his return through workouts at Citi Field while the team was traveling last week.
“Felt like he got what he needed here,” Mendoza said. “Plenty of at-bats. We brought a lot of pitchers in here. We were able to simulate a lot of the things that you do on a rehab assignment.”
Both Soto and Mendoza emphasized that the player is completely healthy and did not return ahead of schedule. This marked Soto’s first injured list stint since 2021 with Washington, when a strained left shoulder kept him out from April 20 through May 3.
