With Juan Soto — among the best players in baseball and a $765 million investment — the Mets are “playing it safe,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday.
A day prior, the Mets placed their star outfielder on the 10-day injured list with a right calf strain and said such injuries generally lead to a two-to-three week absence.
Soto sustained the injury Friday in San Francisco and sat on the bench Saturday and Sunday. With a calf injury that Mendoza repeatedly has called “tricky,” the Mets opted to officially sideline Soto and brought up Ronny Mauricio from Triple-A Syracuse.
For the time being, Mendoza said, Soto will be receiving treatment and will not do much baseball activity until the soreness fades.
“There’s no reason for us to continue to go day by day and put him through a series of exercises and make a decision whether he’s going to be available or not,” Mendoza said before opening a series against the Diamondbacks at Citi Field. “We just decided: You know what? Take your time.”
Without Soto, Brett Baty received a third start in right field and Carson Benge moved to left field.
Baty was playing with a thumb he jammed Saturday and caused him to be scratched from Sunday’s lineup. Jorge Polanco was serving as designated hitter for a seventh straight start, not ready to play the field because of Achilles soreness.
Both of those conditions helped the Mets settle on a call-up of Mauricio, who can move around the infield.
Mendoza acknowledged that Mauricio’s playing time will be “limited,” but he must be ready for anything.
“He’s got a pretty important role coming off the bench,” Mendoza said. “Lefty bat, the versatility defensively, pinch-running if we need to.
“… He has to stay ready because [he could be needed] quick.”
Mendoza did not know when Polanco would be able to play the field again, saying, “It can happen any day” and offering a similar rationale to moving Soto to the injured list.
“It’s still early. Why risk it?” Mendoza said. “Why push it?”
On Wednesday, the Mets will honor the St. John’s men’s basketball team that reached the Sweet 16. Dylan Darling will throw out the ceremonial first pitch to former St. John’s pitcher John Franco.
