Juan Soto left Tuesday night’s Mets game against the Cubs in the fifth inning with what New York called left-side back tightness, wincing in both of his at-bats before exiting. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Soto’s back locked up, and the superstar is consid
A 7–2 game turned into something more complicated for the last-place Mets in the fifth inning Tuesday night. when Juan Soto walked away from his plate appearance and ultimately from the field. He was hitless in two at-bats and appeared to wince both times. then was seen in the dugout with a heat wrap around his lower back before he headed into the clubhouse.
The Mets replaced him in left field with Jared Young to start the fifth inning. It was the second time this season Soto has left a game early. In April, a strained right calf landed him on the injured list and cost him 15 games.
Soto’s early exit immediately sharpened the stakes for New York. which was already chasing the Cubs after Kodai Senga gave up seven runs in 3 2/3 innings. After a 9–6 loss Tuesday, the Mets are 34–44 and last in the National League East, 14 games behind the Atlanta Braves. They have also been without Francisco Lindor since late April. and had hoped to get their two stars back in the lineup together again soon.
Soto’s season numbers made his sudden discomfort feel even harder to absorb: through 61 games he was hitting .299 with a .395 on-base percentage, 17 home runs and a .965 OPS. Until this year, he had been durable, with no stints on the injured list since 2021.
Carlos Mendoza, the Mets manager, described what happened on the field. “His back locked up during the game,” Mendoza said after the game. He added that Soto is day-to-day and that treatment took place during the contest. but the situation worsened to the point where the Mets could tell something was off. Mendoza said Soto was making faces and that it started to bother him “to throw and to get his A swing off.” At that point. Mendoza decided to take him out and have the trainers look at him.
“So as of right now, he’s day-to-day,” Mendoza said. “We’ll see where we are tomorrow.”
The sequence—Soto wincing in consecutive at-bats, a heat wrap in the dugout, and then the move to replace him in the fifth—left the Mets waiting on the one thing they can’t afford to gamble with right now: whether their offense’s engine can stay healthy for the next game or two.
As Wednesday arrives. the Mets are holding their breath with a playoff-caliber lineup in mind and a standings gap that’s already hard to close. The next update will decide whether Soto’s latest issue stays minor. or whether the team’s luck with injuries simply keeps worsening at the most inconvenient time.
Juan Soto Mets Mets injuries left back tightness Carlos Mendoza Francisco Lindor injury Kodai Senga Jared Young Cubs vs Mets