NEW YORK — When MJ Melendez emerged from the Mets’ dugout to hit for Juan Soto in the seventh inning on Wednesday night, panic pumped through Citi Field.
Just when it seemed like this team couldn’t possibly deal with any more rotten injury luck, their best player was forced out of the game a few innings after fouling a ball off his right foot.
This was a doomsday scenario.
What followed, however, was something that hasn’t happened too much for this Mets team in 2026.
They finished off a comeback win — a walk-off victory with some clutch hitting in the late innings — before getting a positive injury update postgame.
X-rays on Soto’s right foot came back negative, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza revealed after the win.
Phew.
Soto is now considered day to day. It’s entirely possible that he sits on Thursday or even a few days in a row, but this outcome is far better than what would’ve been a cataclysmic alternative for the Mets.
Can you imagine if they lost Soto to another long-term injury?
Soto would’ve joined Francisco Lindor, Luis Robert Jr., Jorge Polanco, Francisco Alvarez and more on the IL. That right there is four key hitters from their starting lineup, all sidelined for the foreseeable future.
In other words, this team is still dealing with some serious injury adversity here as they try to climb out of the hole they dug themselves into throughout their disappointing start to this season, but they dodged what could’ve been a knockout punch.
Soto appeared to be in excruciating pain when he fouled a 2-0 pitch from Tigers lefty Framber Valdez off his foot in the third inning. He was down on one knee in pain after limping out of the box.
While Soto did initially stay in the game, he didn’t look right. The superstar outfielder struck out swinging later in that bat. He then bounced out to the pitcher three innings later, trotting gingerly to first.
In the seventh, the Mets had the go-ahead run on third base with two outs when Melendez walked up to hit in Soto’s place. For the Mets to pull Soto in that spot, the injury alarms were ringing as loud as ever.
“I was concerned as soon as he got hit, because it got him pretty good there,” Mendoza said. “We went out there and you could tell that he was in pain. That second at-bat didn’t look right. Then when I saw the trainer come my way, I knew something was up. That’s when he said, ‘Hey, I’m going to take him for X-rays.’ I’m glad that we got good news.”
Soto didn’t speak to reporters after the win. He’s batting .263 this season with a .801 OPS and four home runs. Soto has already missed a chunk of games on the IL this year — he sat out for three weeks after suffering a calf strain while running the bases in early April during the Mets’ first road trip of the season.
The Mets (17-25) are still among the worst teams in the majors after winning the first two games of the series against the Tigers. They’ll go for the sweep Thursday before a big series with the Yankees at home this weekend.
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