NEW YORK (AP) — Interim New York Mets manager Andy Green was willing to get ejected Saturday if it meant slugger Juan Soto got a few extra seconds to recover from fouling a ball off his right shin in the
slugger’s first game back from the injured list.
Green stayed in the game — and so did Soto, who delivered the go-ahead RBI single on the next pitch in the fifth inning of the last-place Mets’ 6-2 win over the Houston Astros.
“Going to give him all the time in the world he needed,” Green said with a grin. “I would have gotten ejected just to give him more time, if the umpire was saying to speed things up.”
After he was tended to by Green and a trainer, Soto hit a 100.4-mph line drive to right field off Cristian Javier to cap a seven-pitch battle and spark a three-run inning for the Mets, who halted a three-game skid.
“It was really frustrating at the time — everything went through my mind,” Soto said. “I just said (the heck with) it. I’m going to try to push through it. I’m not going to take too long here, I’ve got to be out there.”
Soto returned to the last-place Mets after missing 31 games with a strain of his left calf. The five-time All-Star landed on the injured list after battling the issue for about a week before he left a July 24 game against the Dodgers in discomfort.
“He said he was going to be back before the year was out and he was back before August was out,” Green said before the game.
The IL stint was the second this season for Soto, who was sidelined for 15 games with a right calf strain in April — his first trip to the IL since 2021, when he was with Washington.
“He’s worked incredibly hard over the last few weeks — a lot of it behind the scenes without people seeing it,” Green said. “He’s pushed himself in a way that, frankly, you don’t see a lot of veterans push themselves when your team is in this type of situation that we’re in.”
The Mets fell into the NL East cellar by going 3-12 during Soto’s first stint on the shelf, but were 17-14 in his recent absence despite a massive trade deadline selloff.
“It’s really frustrating to be down and not being able to help your team, to try to perform out there, try to have fun with the boys,” Soto said. “I think it’s really frustrating, That keeps me motivated to be out there again.”
As was the case in April, Soto returned without a rehab assignment.
“I was trying to stay locked in in my workouts and everything,” Soto said. “Even when I wasn’t pushing too hard on my legs, I was actually pushing really hard on my upper body and everything.”
Soto, who batted second and served as designated hitter Saturday, said he expects to see more time at designated hitter than in left field, at least initially.
“I feel pretty comfortable with my calf and all of that stuff,” Soto said. “But at the end of the day, we’ve got to remember I came (back) a little bit shorter than they expected and I didn’t do any rehab assignment. So my guess is I’m probably going to DHing a little bit more and we will see when they decide to let me play in the outfield.”
With four outfielders — Soto and fellow veteran Luis Robert Jr. along with rookies Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing — Green said he could get the quartet into the lineup on a nearly daily basis.
Robert, who missed almost three months earlier this season with a back injury before beginning to play left field after the deadline, was off Saturday after appearing in the previous four games, when converted infielder Brett Baty played left,
Soto, in the second year of a 15-year, $765 million deal, is batting .283 with 21 homers and 53 RBIs in 85 games. His .941 OPS would lead the National League if he had enough plate appearances.
The Mets made room for Soto by optioning infielder Eric Wagaman to Triple-A following Friday night’s 3-1 loss to the Astros.
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